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HISTORY STORIES 

OF 

ALABAMA 



BY 

MRS. PITT LAMAR MATTHEWS 



THE SOUTHERN PUBLISHING COMPANY 
DALLAS TEXAS 



TO MY HUSBAND 

PITT LAMAR MATTHEWS 

THIS BOOK IS LOVINGLY DEDICATED 



JUL -6 lyi^o 



Copyrighted 1920 
By The Southern Publishing Company 

©CI A571614 



INTRODUCTION 

A Letter to the Boys and Girls of Alabama 

'~^ My Dear Young Friends: 

The stories in this book that you will like best are 
%he stories of Indians, and those about the first white 
settlers who came to Alabama. 
•i^ All historians agree that many of these stories 
>^are legendary, but in order that you may know that 
;;.rthey are true to history I am going to tell you where 
I found them. It was in Pickett's History of 
Alabama. Although if you should read that inter- 
esting, book you might say, "I cannot find those 
stories in this history." 

When your mother makes a raisin cake, she looks 
way up on the top shelf of the pantry to find the 
raisins. In the ice box she finds the eggs, butter 
and milk. In one can she finds the flour, in another 
the sugar. Then the baking powder and spice are 
measured out just right. She has all the ingredients 
of your favorite cake, and she knows how to mix 
them to suit your taste. Because she loves you she 
is smiling inwardly, all the time the cake is baking, 
for she knows that you will enjoy it. 
" In somewhat the same manner, I gathered the 
facts and narratives for these Stories of Alabama 
and wove them together, hoping that the result 
would suit your taste. The pictures of Indian cus- 
toms and activities are presented to you through the 



vi ' INTRODUCTION 

courtesy of Col. Pickett's granddaughter, Mrs. Mary 
Austin Pickett Davidson, of Montgomery. An old 
book that was published more than three hundred 
years ago in France, was bought by Col. Pickett, 
while he was collecting material for his History of 
Alabama. It was a copy of the old book that was 
taken to Stanley Paulger's Studio in Montgomery, 
where Mr. Paulger photographed the pictures that 
were drawn by the French explorer who visited this 
country 343 years before. The other stories in this 
book were gathered from various books, old histories, 
and from newspapers. 

After searching for more than a year for stories 
of heroes, deeds of daring, of interesting adventures 
and worth-while happenings in the history of our 
state, I came to feel that Alabama's history is so 
filled with glorious deeds, magnificent sacrifices, 
thrills and heart-throbs, that the children of the .state 
should be told what truly great men and women their 
forebears were. Alabama has not commemorated 
her historic spots, with monuments, nor has the 
heroism of her great men been heralded abroad, but 
you can rest assured that in every epoch of history, 
your state has done its part nobly. 

The future of Alabama depends upon the boys 
and girls who are now in school. And T hope that 
in your hearts you each feel like saying, with ^[iss 
Julia Tutwiler, "Keep us worthy. Cod in Heaven, 
of this goodly land of thine." 

Your devoted friend, 
Mrs. Matthews. 



ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 

For the greater part of the facts and narratives 
found in the History Stories of Alabama I am 
indebted to the following' authors: Albert James 
Pickett, Thomas M. Owen, Joel C. DuBose, John 
Witherspoon DuBose, Willis Brewer, William Gar- 
rett Brown, Alexander B. Meek, Saffold Berney, B. 
F. Riley, John Wyeth, Raphael Semmes, J. C. Lester 
and D. L. Wilson, Peter Joseph Hamilton, AVilliam 
T. Sheehan, J. A. Roberson and William H. Amerine. 

The stories of industrial development Avere gath- 
ered from literature issued by the Chambers of 
Commerce at Birmingham, Montgomery, Mobile and 
Florence, from various state newspapers and inter- 
views with educators, business men and state officials. 

For assistance in research work I wish to express 
my appreciation to Dr. Thomas M. Owen, Miss 
Gertrude Ryan and Miss Tuccoa Cozart of the State 
Department of Archives and History, to Miss Laura 
Elmore, Miss Francis Hails and Miss Dixie Macey 
of the Montgomery Carnegie Library. 

For reading my manuscript and for valuable sug- 
gestions I am especially indebted to Dr. John W. 
DuBose, Dr. J. H. Phillips, Dr. E. M. Shackelford, 
Dr. G. W. Brock, Dr. J. H. Willingham, Prof. W. R. 
Harrison, Prof. P. W. Hodges, Ex-Governor Charles 
Henderson, Mrs. Charles Henderson, Mrs. Fred 
Jones, Mrs. Willis Brewer, Miss Inene Centerfit, 
Miss Tuccoa Cozart, Grover C. Hall, Judge M. S. 
Carmichael, and I. T. Quinn. 

The Author. 



TABLE, OF CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Introduction v 

Acknowledgments vii 

PART I 

HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 
Jean Ortis 

De Soto's Arrival in Alabama 1 

A Very Impolite Guest 

The Battle of Mauvilla 7 

Bienville 

The First White Settlement 13 

The Expedition That Failed 

French Massacred at Natchez Settlement 17 

The Girls Who Came to an Unknown Land 

The First Wives for the Colonists 21 

Twelve Ugly Ducklings 22 

Girls of the Chest 22 

The Emperor of Coweta 

How the P>ench Made Friends with the Indians 24 

Game Losers 

Conditions During Early Settlement 27 

A Russian Princess 

An Early Romance at Wetumpka 30 

His Mother 

An Indian's Courage 32 

Princess Mary 

James Oglethorpe Comes to Alabama 34 

Stung Arm 

An Indian Princess Befriends the P>ench 37 

Lachlan McGillivray 

English Traders Come Among the Indians 43 

ix 



X TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Alexander McGillivray 

A Man Whose Power Affected the Nation 46 

The Heroine of Little River 

How the Tensaw Settlers were Saved 54 

The Camp Angel 

British Refugees Wander Through Ahibama 58 

Courage Wins Reward 61 

Paro Saves the Wanderers 64 

A Real Hero 

A Negro Saves the Lives of the Immigrants ... 66 

Little Tempey Ellis 

Tiny White Girl Rescued by "Old Milly" 69 

Isaac Heaton's Dogs 

Fort Sinquefield in the Greek War 72 

A Brave Indian 

Talladega Fort Saved by General Jackson 74 

The Canoe Fight 

Sam Dale, Jere Austill and James Smith Stage a Great Fight 77 

Kindness That Came Back 

The Fort Mims Massacre 80 

The Red Eagle 

A Reproduction of Alexander Meek's Poem of the Creek War 85 

Nannawyah 

Indians are Warned of Their Removal to the West 93 

The Stranger Within Our Gates 

Aaron Burr's Capture 95 

The Yazoo Fraud 

Early Settlers Come into Alabama 99 

The One-Man Senate 

Alabama Becomes a Territory, then a State 102 

The Vine and Olive Company 

French Refugees Settle DcmopoUs 104 

The Man Who Could Make Cow^-Bells 

St. Stephen's Prosperous Days 109 

John Hunt's Town 

The Founding of Huntsville 112 

Andrew Dexter's Tract 

The Beginning of Montgomery 115 



TABLE OF CONTENTS xi 

Cedar Creek Furnace page 
The Beginning of Iron-Making in Alabama 120 

A Vice-President of the United States 

Wm. Rufus King, the Founder of Selma 125 

A Captain of Industry 

Daniel Pratt, the Founder of Prattville 127 

La Fayette's Visit 

A French General, the Friend of Amorioa 130 

Francis Scott Key's Mission to Alabama 

Trouble with the Indians 133 

The First Railroad in Alabama 

Experiences of Early Railroad Builders 135 

Osceola 

The Leader of the Creeks and the Seminoles 138 

William C. Travis 

Leader in the War for Texas Independence 141 

Billy Goold 

The Man Who Found Fortunes for Others 144 

Jefferson Davis 

Memories Recalled by Mrs. Mary Phelan Watt 148 

Supplies for Southern Soldiers 

The Ordnance Department of the Confederacy 152 

The Boy Artilleryman 

John Pelham 156 

Emma Sansom 

The Girl Who Showed General Forrest "The Lost Ford" 160 

A Story of Real Strategem 

General Streight Surrenders to General Forrest 166 

Fighting Joe Wheeler 

Hero of Two Wars 169 

The Flagship Tennessee 

A Naval Battle in Mobile Bay 173 

A King -of the High Seas 

Raphael Semmes, Commander of the "Alabama" 175 



xii TABLE OF CONTENTS 

PAGE 

The David a.vd Goliath of the Sea 

The First Torpedo Boat 180 

A Boy Hero 

Thomas Jones Shows His Courage 182 

Ku Klux Klan 

Reconstruction Days in Alabama 184 

What One Boy Made of Himself 

How James Pugh Became "The Patrick Henry of Alabama" 188 

The Birth of Birmingham 

How John T. Milner Laid the Foundation for the Great Town 192 

Difficulties of the Young Engineer 193 

The Trick that Didn't Work 19.5 

The Greatness of the Resources of "The Pittsburg of the South". . . . 199 

A Tale of Two Cities 

The Founding of Anniston and of Jacksonville 202 

Hoyt Smith 

A Bare Foot Boy Who Made ()])i)orl unities 208 

Charles Vanderpoel's Great Invention 

Montgomery has the P"'irst Electric Street Car." 212 

The Hero of the Merrimac 

Richmond P. Hobson in the Spanish-Anieiican War 214 

William Crawford Gorgas 

The World is Taught a Lesson in Sanitation 218 

Hidden Treasures 

The Minerals of Alabama 223 

Grai)hite 225 

Marble 227 

Gold and Precious Stones : 229 

Lignite 231 

Limestone 232 

Salt 232 

Ochre and Clay 234 

The Legend or Muscle Shoals 

An Ideal Location for a City — Flonuicc 230 

Commercial Value pf Muscle Shoals 239 

Alabama's Share in the Great World War 

The Daring and Adventire of the Brave Boys of Alabama 241 

Alabama's "Fighting Fourth" 244 



TABLE OF CONTENTS xiii 

PART 11 

IMPORTANT EVENTS IN ALABAMA HISTORY 

. PAGE 

Spanish Explorations 261 

French Colonists 263 

Disputes Over Territory. . 266 

The Passing of the Red Men 269 

Territory and State 273 

Forty Years of Statehood 276 

Alabama at War 

The War with Mexico 2S0 

The War Between the States 2S1 

Reconstruction Days 285 

The Spanish-American War 289 

War With Germany 289 

Fifty Years of Political Progress : 292 

Agricultural Development in Alabama 

Plain and Fancy Farming 300 

The Wiregrass Region 303 

Founding of Geneva 308 

The "Single Tax" Colony 309 

The Gulf Coast Country 310 

Evergreens 312 

Tennessee Valley and the Black Belt 313 

Agricultural Extension Service 315 

How Supported 316 

Main Divisions of Extension Work 317 

Farm Demonstration Agents 317 

Home Demonstration Agents 317 

Boy's Clubs 318 

Girl's Clubs 319 

Progress in Education 323 

Private Schools 332 

Appendix 

Governors and Other Officers 340 

Counties of Alabama 342 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS 

PAGE 

Mrs. Pitt Lamar Matthews Frontispiece 

Ortiz Makes a Good Shot 2 

Shxy Mo Not! I Am a Christian! 5 

Tuscaloosa Scorns Do Soto 11 

An Indian Picnic 25 

Catching AlHgators 28 

Starting on the War Path 40 

An Indian Vihage 63 

Indians Deceiving Deer 75 

Indians Setting Fire to an Enemy ViUage 83 

Surrender of Weatherford to General Jackson 92 

Indians Playing Ball 117 

Mining Iron Ore in Alabama Today 121 

Ante-Bellum Gin House and Cotton Press 128 

The First Railway Train 136 

Burial of the Chief 139 

Searching for Gold 146 

Inauguration of Jefferson Davis 149 

General Forrest rind Emma Swanson 164 

Fighting Joe Wheeler 169 

Milner's Dream Realized — Birmingham's Grand Canyon 196 

Sccn(> of Alabama Steel Mills 200 

Dr. William Ci'awford Goigas 219 

An Alabama Graphite Mine 226 

Alabama Marble 228 

Alabama Limestone (Quarry 233 

Osmond Kelly Ingram and the U. S. S. Cassin 241 

Lieut. General Robert Lee Bullard 243 

Staff Officers of the IG7th Infantry Regiment 246 

Camp McClellan, Amiiston, Alabama 249 

Lieut. James G. Nail and His Scout Plane 254 

State Capitol 260 

Floridians Venerate Columns Loft by Do Soto 262 

Coal Mines, Edgewater, Alabama . ; 277 

Perry Street, Montgomery, Executive Mansion in Foreground 293 

xiv 



LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS xv 

PAGE 

Power Plant at Tallassee Falls 296 

Outside View of a Modern Cotton Ginning Plant oOl 

Wheat Harvest, Tj^pical of New Diversified Farms of Montgonuny County. .802 

An Alabama Corn Field 304 

Harvesting Peanuts Near Dothan, Alabama 306 

Alabama Peanut-Fed Hogs 307 

An Alabama Dairy Herd 314 

Mobile, Alabama 321 

University of Alabama 324 

Alabama Polytechnic Irstitute, Auburn 326 

State Normal School, Jacksonville, Alabama 328 

Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, Tuskegee, Alabama 330 

Girl's'' Technical Institute Montevallo, Alabama 331 

Dormitory for Women, State Normal School, Livingston, Alabama 333 

State Normal School, Florence, Alabama 334 

School for the Blind, Talladega 335 

School for the Deaf, Talladega 335 

State Normal School, Troy, Alabama 337 



I 



PART I 

History Stories of Alabama 

JEAN ORTIZ 

De Soto's Arrival in Alabama 

N a lonely forest near Tampa Bay, Jean Ortiz lay 
asleep. Now Jean was not supposed to be asleep, 
although it was night and he had been watching all 
day in the Temple of the Dead. But Indians felt no 
pity for their captive and this Spaniard was a cap- 
tive. He had been ordered to guard the bodies of 
the dead Indians, but on this occasion, the watchman 
had fallen asleep. Suddenly, the sound of a scramble 
awoke him. Ortiz jumped to his feet just in time to 
see a huge panther carrying a child's dead body into 
the woods. Seizing his bow, he sent an arrow into 
the thick undergrowth, then he crept quietly to the 
spot where the panther lay dead beside the child. 
Ortiz carried the little corpse back to its resting place 
and then set out for the Indian village dragging the 
panther beliind him. The Indians were so pleased 
with the white man's courage that they began treat- 
ing him with kindness and respect. 

Several years before this incident took place, 
Ortiz came with De Narvaez, a Spanish explorer, 

1 



2 HISTORY STOEIES OF ALABAMA 

who landed on the coast of Florida in search of gold. 
Ortiz, then a youth of eighteen, was sent with others 
on an errand to Cuba. Some time later they again 
reached Florida, but De Narvaez and his followers 
had long since perished and there was no one to 
befriend Ortiz and his four companions. The five 




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ORTIZ MAKES A GOOD SHOT 

Spaniards were captured by the savag^es and four of 
them were put to death. Ortiz Avas bound hand and 
foot, for the cruel chief, Uceta, ordered that he be 
burned. But the Spanish youth was not killed. The 
Chief's beautiful daughter, Ulelah, fell (m her knees 
at her father's feet and begged that the boy should 
be spared. Uceta finally agreed to let Ortiz live. 



JEA^^ OETIZ 3 

but the Spaniard was made a slave and given the 
task of watchman in the Temple of the Dead. It 
was several months later that he won the respect of 
the Indians by killing the panther in the forest. 

Three years afterward a fierce war broke out 
between Uceta and a neighboring tribe. In order 
to appease the evil spirit which the Indians believed 
caused the war to. come upon them, it was the custom 
to make a sacrifice of a human life. Poor Ortiz was 
selected as the victim. His faithful friend, the 
princess Ulelah, hearing of this cruel plan, came one 
night and warned him that he would be sacrificed 
the next day. At the dead hour of night she went 
with him a mile away to guide him on the way to 
safet3\ She told Ortiz to go to Mucoso, a chieftain 
whom she had promised to wed, and tell this chieftain 
that she had sent the stranger there for Mucoso 's 
protection. He traveled all night and in the moi'u- 
ing came to a river where Mucoso 's territory began. 
The chieftain received him kindly and treated him 
well, promising that if white men ever came to that 
country Ortiz should return to his own people. 

Twelve years after Jean Ortiz was captured by 
the Indians, De Soto landed at Tampa Bay. De Soto 
did not know that he was on his way to Alabama. 
He did not know that he was going to discover the 
Mississippi river, neither did he know he was to die 
in this new country, and be buried in the river he 
discovered. ~ In fact, he knew nothing of the many 
wonderful things that were going to happen in this 
wild countrv, to which he had come looking for gold. 



4 IIISTOEY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

Of course, he had never heard of Jean Ortiz. But 
one day Jean Ortiz heard of De Soto and determined 
to find his countrjntnan. 

Soon after the Spaniards landed De Soto sent out 
a scouting party, telling them to capture Indians 
who could carry their burdens or guide them 
through the woods. The soldiers came upon a band 
of Indians one day and began slaying or capturing 
them. Imagine the leader's surprise when he heard 
a voice cry out in Spanish, ''I am a Christian! Slay 
me not! I am a Christian!" Instantly the stout 
trooper drew back his lance, lifted Ortiz up behind 
him on his horse and galloped off to join his com- 
panions. At last Ortiz had escaped from the 
Indians. 

De Soto was delighted to find a man who knew so 
much about the country and who knew the language 
and customs of the Red Men. Ortiz had really 
grown to look like an Indian and he knew both 
tongues, so he made the very best sort of interpreter 
for De Soto. He could tell the natives what the 
''White Chief" said, then he could repeat to the 
Spaniards what the Indians said. 

For the first time in twelve years Jean Ortiz sat 
at meat with those of his kind and enjoyed food 
which he had never expected to taste again. It was 
a proud Ortiz indeed who rode forth that same day, 
mounted on a fine charger, wearing a coat of steel, a 
helmet, breastplate and shield, and armed with sword 
and gun. He soon learned that he was to ride in 
company with more than two hundred horsemen, 



JEAN ORTIZ 




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SLAY ME NOT ! I AM A CHRISTIAN ! 



fi HISTOEY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

accompanied by nearly seven iumdred foot soldiers, 
a score of priests and numerous workmen. 

On the second day of July, 1540, Jean Ortiz rode 
with De Soto into what is now Cherokee county, 
Alabama, and camped near the Coosa river. Thus it 
came about that Ortiz entered Alabama with the first 
company of white men who set foot on this soil. 
Along the Coosa, then across to the Tallapoosa and 
down beside the Alabama river the explorers slowly 
made their way. And among all that glittering army 
there was none prouder nor gladder than De Soto's 
interpreter, Jean Ortiz. 



A VERY IMPOLITE GUEST 

The Battle of Mauvilla 

ALL over the town of Coosa, the news spread like 
a prairie fire. "The white men are coming. 
Make ready for the white men," the messengers 
cried. The yonng chief of Coosa had spent days in 
preparing for this event. The woods and fields had 
given up their best for the entertainment of the visi- 
tors, and the women had been unusually busy making 
ready for the reception of the mighty men of Spain. 

On the 26th day of July, 1540, the army came in 
sight of Coosa. Near the outskirts of the town, 
De Soto was met by the chief. The ruler rode in a 
becushioned chair which was carried by four big 
Indian braves. Around his shoulders was thi'own a 
mantle made of martin skins, and his head was be- 
decked with brilliant feathers. One thousand war- 
riors, wearing pleasant smiles and gorgeous plumes, 
marcTied in regular order behind their chief. Some 
of them played on flutes, while others sang at the top 
of their voices. 

De Sot(^ sat on his fiery steed, clad in glittering 
armor, and surrounded by his magnificent company. 
When the young chief met the Spanish leader, he 
made this speech: "Mighty Chief alcove all oth- 
ers of the earth, although I come now to receive 
you, yet I received you many days ago in my heart. 

7 



8 HTSTOl^Y STOEIES OF ALABAMA 

If I had the whole world it would not give me as 
much pleasure as I now enjoy at the presence of 
yourself and your warriors. My person, lands and 
subjects are at your service. I will now march you 
to your quarters with playing and singing." There 
were only five hundred houses in the little town, but 
the hospitable chief turned over half that number to 
De Soto's men, while he entertained the Spanish 
leader in his own royal household. 

One day the young chief arose from the table 
after a sumptuous meal and asked De Soto to stay 
forever in the land of Coosa, offering the Spaniards 
any part of the region they might choose. De Soto 
responded by saying that he appreciated the offer, 
but ships were waiting at Pensacola for the "White 
Chief," and he would have to leave. 

In return for the Indian's hospitality, the Span- 
iard made a prisoner of his host. During De Soto's 
stay in Coosa, and for nearly a month thereafter, 
the chief was not allowed out of the white man's 
presence. This was done in order to force other 
Indians to supply food and furnish slaves, who car- 
ried the white men's burdens. The ungrateful 
Spaniard carried the chief with him to Tallassee, 
where he was forced to remain for twenty days. At 
the end of that time, the humiliated chief was allowed 
to return to his own people. This he did without any 
show of ill-feeling. 

The next Indian cliief whom De Soto encountered 
was not quite so friendly. Tlie name of this chief 
was Tuscaloosa, which means "Black Warrior". 



A VEEY IMPOLITE GUEST 9 

And he was as big and powerful as liis name sounds. 
Now Tuscaloosa did not rush forth to welcome the 
Spaniards with feasting and music. He remained 
upon his seat of state with his attendants gathered 
around him. It is thought that Tuscaloosa was 
stationed upon Capitol Hill in Montgomeiy. His 
throne was covered with woven grass matting to 
which was added two cushions. Over his head an 
umbrella was held to protect him from the sun's yslvs. 
The umbrella was made of a round deer- skin shield, 
upheld by a staff in the middle. The shield, which 
was used as a banner during war, was painted in 
stripes of different colors. 

When the Spaniards came within six miles of 
Tuscaloosa's camp, the leader sent Moscoso to tell the 
Black Warrior that De Soto had arrived. Moscoso 
pranced up in front of Tuscaloosa on his fine steed. 
Tuscaloosa pretended not to see him at all. Then 
Moscoso put his horse through a number of tricks 
but the Black Warrior was apparently deaf, dumb 
and blind. At last Moscoso called out, "De Soto is 
approaching!" But if Tuscaloosa heard him he 
showed no signs of it. When De Soto, himself, rode 
into the presence of the big chief Tuscaloosa arose 
with dignity and bade him welcome. 

Tuscaloosa seemed to know that he would be 
forced to accompany the Spaniards and he was 
prepared for trouble. So when the whjte men took 
their departure the Black Warrior mounted the 
horse In-ought him and rode away without utter- 
ing a word. It was a hard matter for the Spanish 



10 HISTORY STOEIES OF ALABAMA 

soldiers to find a horse big enough for the enormous 
Indian. When he was mounted on the largest pack 
horse in the army his feet almost trailed on the 
ground. A gorgeous scarlet robe was presented to 
the chief. But for all that grandeur he knew that he 
was a prisoner. 

A strange company rode on toward Mauvilla for 
several days. Historians disagree as to the location 
of Mauvilla but man}^ of them believe that it was in 
what is now Greene county between the forks of 
the Tombigbee and Warrior rivers. When they at 
last reached Mauvilla they were ushered into the 
great public square with songs, music and the grace- 
ful dancing of Indian maidens. After remaining for 
a time with the merry-makers Tuscaloosa asked to 
be released. De Soto hesitated a moment before 
answering and with that the big chief arose and be- 
took himself away to the house of an Indian. Before 
very long, De Soto sent word that breakfast was 
ready, and invited Tuscaloosa to join them in the 
meal. The chief refused to return to the Spanish 
camp, saying to the messenger, "If your chief knows 
what is best for him he will take his troops out of my 
territory. ' ' 

The Spaniai'ds heeded not tlie warning, even 
after they learned that ten thousand warriors were 
gathered in the woods nearbv and that vast stores 
of bows, arrows, stones and clubs were hidden in the 
houses of the village. Blinded by their own pride 
and determined to conquer everything, the Spaniards 
proceeded to lay their plans. "We will trap this 



A VEKY IMlM)LrrE (U'ES^r 



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TUSCALOOSA SCORNS DP: SOTO 



12 HISTOEY STOEIES OF ALABAMA 

haughty Indian," they said. With soft words and 
pleasant smiles, De Soto approached Tuscaloosa. 
But the Black Warrior scornfully turned his back 
upon his enemy and walked away. 

The Indians were already infuriated over the 
treatment which had been accorded their chief. Tus- 
caloosa had only to give the word and ten thousand 
warriors swooped down upon the Spaniards with 
yells of rage and a terrible thirst for revenge. A hor- 
rible fight took place that day at Mauvilla. Tusca- 
loosa himself was slain and five thousand of his war- 
riors were killed. At the end of a nine-hour battle, 
the once peaceful town of Mauvilla presented a sight 
too dreadful to describe. 

The Spaniard gained that victory but in the end 
defeat was his portion. For instead of finding the 
gold, which he had come to find, De Soto lost his men, 
his horses, his supplies and the priceless pearls which 
friendly Indians had given him. And he finally died 
without knowing that his name would go down in 
history as the discoverer of the Mississippi river 
and as "Alabama's most distinguished guest." 



BIENVILLE 

The First White Settlement 

ON board the two vessels which sailed from Ro- 
elielle, France, one September morning, were 
more than two hundred Canadians. These Canadi- 
ans had been over to France to help in the war 
against England. But now they were no longer 
needed and their King was sending them back to the 
new country across the Atlantic. But instead of re- 
turning to their cold northern home these Canadians 
were going to settle the country along the Mississippi 
river. 

Three brothers formed an important part of this 
expedition. The oldest, Iberville, was in charge of 
the colonists, Sauvolle was the next oldest brother, 
and Bienville the youngest, was only eighteen years 
of age. 

After a long, hard voyage the vessels entered the 
Gulf of Mexico. On the last day of January, 1699, 
they sailed into the harbor at Mobile and landed on 
Dauphin Island (afterwards called Fort Biloxi). 
But they soon sailed out again. These colonists 
moved to Mississippi and then moved back to Ala- 
bama. In 1702 they built a fort on the Mobile river, 
a few miles above the Bay, which they called Fort 
Louis de la Mobile. Here at what is now called 27- 
Mile Bluff were the first homes of white men in Ala- 

13 



14 HISTOKY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

bania. Nine years later the colony moved down to 
the present site of Mobile. 

In the conrse of time the two older brothers died 
and the responsibility of the colony fell npon Bien- 
ville. The yonnger officer had great difficulty in pro- 
viding food for his people. Strange as it may seem, 
he had the greatest difficulty of all in making the 
Frenchmen woik. The Indian women raised corn 
simply by scratching the rich soil with sticks and 
dropping the seed into the ground. But grown white 
men sat idly by depending upon their leader to pro- 
vide bread for them. 

In some way Bienville managed to secure sup- 
plies for his people. He made friends with the Red 
Men with whom he traded. He learned the Indian 
language and he was kind and just to the natives. 
However, he had trouble with some of the tribCvS and 
he also had trouble with the English and Spanish and 
even with his own countrymen. 

Sixteen years after the French colonists landed 
at Mobile Bienville found that he could esta])lisli a 
trading post on the Alabama river as he had long 
wished to do. AYith firearms, ammunition, provi- 
sions and presents foi' the Indians, Bienville and his 
followers left Mobile in two sailing boats. If you 
have ever traveled by boat up the river from Mobile, 
in the s])ringtime, you can easily imagine how the 
country looked along the way. There are miles and 
miles along the river banks as wild and beautiful 
as flowers, trees, white sand and wee])ing wil- 
lows ever made scenery. You can drift along 



BIENVILLE 15 

after night with the darkness above and about yon, 
with the water stretching out on both sides of the 
boat, with the wild things stirring in the trees on 
the shore, and if 3^ou are a very small boy or girl it 
will be easy to shut your eyes and imagine that you 
are a little papoose whom the white man picked up 
for a mascot. Of course the country was wild and 
dangerous then, but brave Bienville w^as not think- 
ing of danger. For he was filled with joy and pride 
because his long hoped for plans were at last to be 
carried out and the French were to have a fort 
within the interior. 

Bienville stopped for a few hours at the place 
where the Tombigbee and Alabama come together to 
form the Mobile river. Then he sailed up the stream 
to Selma which was then an Indian village. In a few 
days he passed Montgomery and moored his boats at 
Coosada. There Bienville left his large boats and 
went in a canoe to explore the Coosa and Tallapoosa 
rivers. On the east bank of the Coosa four miles 
below the present town of Wetumpka, Bienville se- 
lected a site for his fort. Then he went back to Coo- 
sada for his fleet. In a few days he returned to 
establish the first French fort on the river. That was 
the famous Fort Toulouse. For fifty years the fort, 
which Bienville built near Wetumpka, protected the 
interests of the French in that part of the territory. 
A century later the name was changed to Fort Jack- 
son in honor of the hero of the Creek war. 

If you should ever visit Fort Toulouse, you could 
stand on the bank of the river and peer down into its 



16 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

depths but you will not see any signs of the cannon, 
buried in the mud. Many people, however, think 
that four of the eight cannon, which Bienville 
planted there, are still in the river opposite the 
old fort. 



THE EXPEDITION THAT FAILED 

French Massacred at Natchez Settlement 

THE cooks were having a hard time one day at 
old Fort Tonibecbe. For Bienville had sent a 
message from Mobile to the French officer, De Lus- 
ser, ordering him to have ovens built and a quantity 
of biscuit baked. AVhat sort of biscuit those French 
cooks made there on the banks of the Little Tombig- 
bee is a matter for thought. You probably know the 
quality of cooking that can be done on a smoky brick 
oven, out of doors. But Bienville had said "bake 
biscuit", and there was nothing to do but bake them, 
without asking the reason why. 

The reason why was this : The French fleet which 
was bringing supplies from New Orleans to the colo- 
nists, was overtaken by a storm and a whole cargo of 
rice was destroyed by the salt water. In order to 
make up this loss, Bienville set his bakers in Mobile 
to work and a large supply of bread was quickly 
made. The commandant also sent word to De Lusser, 
at Tombecbe, to have the same delicacy prepared be- 
fore Bienville's expedition arrived. Three years be- 
fore this happened Bienville had returned to Louisi- 
ana, after an absence of eight years. During that 
eight years the colonists had experienced so much 
trouble with unprincipled commandants and- un- 
friendy Indians that they welcomed Bienville's re- 
turn to Louisiana. 

17 



18 inSTOlJY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

It was the Chickasaw Indians who were troub- 
ling the colonists and Bienville immediately began 
making preparations for an attack upon them. 
After months of hard work, delays and disappoint- 
ments, Bienville's fleet was at last ready to start on 
its voyage up the river bringing soldiers who thought 
they would subdue the Chickasaws. It is said that 
this fleet was the largest that had ever sailed up the 
Mobile river. More than sixty well-laden vessels, 
manned by some of every class of men in Louisiana, 
formed the fleet. Merchants, seamen, old soldiers, 
big Canadians, monks, priests, gentlemen of leisure 
and juvst plain loafers, besides Indians and negroes 
made up the crew. In all there were six hundred 
white men, forty-five negroes and a number of 
Indians. 

When Bienville reached Fort Tombecbe (or 
Jones' Bluff as it is now called) he found De Lusser's 
men trying vainly to build ovens of the crumbling 
black earth. "Mix sand with the dirt" some one sug- 
gested. This was done and in a short while the ovens 
were smoking merrily, the cooks were smiling and a 
savory odoi' filled the air. 

At Tombecbe six hundred Choctaws joined the 
French army. The nickname for the Choctaws was 
"Flatheads" and their behavior on that trip justified 
the title. As the army proceeded on its way, a com- 
pany of the French made an unwise attack upon the 
Chickasaw^s at the Natchez settlement. The French 
were horribly slaughtered and retreated ingloriously. 
The officers made desperate efforts to rally their 



THE EXPKDITTOX TITAT FAILED 19 

forces but they appealed in vain to tlie Flatheads. 
At a good safe distance those highly colored braves 
were sporting among themselves. While the Chicka- 
saws murdered their white friends, these cowardly 
Choctaws sang, danced, whooped and fii'ed guns into 
the air as though a feast da,y was at hand. Aftei' the 
French retreated the Choctaws made a great show of 
rushing upon the Chickasaws. But at the first volley 
from the fortifications the painted and plumed wai'- 
riors fled in terror. The Choctaws, however, were 
not the only ones who showed the white feather dur- 
ing that battle. Some of the white soldiers took 
refuge in unoccupied cabins and refused to come out. 
A whole company of negroes, who were used as an 
advance guard, broke rank and sped like the wind 
to safety. Simon, the commander of the negro troops 
was no coward himself but he was luiable to induce 
his men to fight. 

That evening as the French officers sat around 
the camp, discussing the events of the day, one of 
them began teasing Simon about the desertion of his 
troops. Simon stood looking across the field, watch- 
ing a drove of horses grazing near the Chickasaw 
camps. "I will show you that a negro is as brave as 
anybody," he suddenly declared, and with that he 
started towards the horses. He plunged through a 
shower of bullets from the enemy, ran to a beautiful 
white horse, threw a rope over the animal's head, 
and rode back to the French camp unhurt. Loud 
cheers from the white men greeted him and Simon 
was never jeered again about the cowardice of his 
troops. 



20 HISTORY STOETES OF ALABAMA 

The next afternoon Bienville put his men on the 
march toward the supply depot on the Tomhighee 
and two days later they arrived at Fort Tomhecbe. 
There he left a small force and with the main body 
of his troops returned to Mobile. 

The expedition against the Chickasaw had failed, 
but Bienville set doggedly to work to make up for his 
losses. He took four years to prepare for his next 
attack upon the Chickasaws, at the end of which time 
a large French force set out to conquer these un- 
friendly Indians. The Chickasaws learned of the 
big army that was advancing, and in alarm, sent 
their chiefs to make terms with the French. So 
peace was arranged. 

After forty-four years of labor for the colony, 
Bienville left Louisiana and went back to France to 
spend his last days. He lived to be nearly ninety 
years old but he never lost interest in the Louisiana 
colony. It is said that he met every vessel that came 
to his shore from the country across the sea and was 
always the first man to board the ship, seeking news 
of the empire he had tried to build in the West for 
France. 



THE GIRLS WHO CAME TO AN UNKNOWN 

LAND 

The First Wives for the Colonists 

THREE little French girls and seven small sons 
of France stood on shore with their parents and 
watched the ship, Pelican, pull into harbor at Mobile. 
Another ship had come in, a few days before, bring- 
ing supplies to the hungry colonists, but they were all 
delighted to see the Pelican arrive, just the same. 
For that vessel not only brought provisions from 
France but had • on board seventy-five soldiers, 
four priests, four sisters of charity, and most wel- 
come of all, twenty-three girls. These maids were 
sweet, industrious little ladies who had been sent 
over as wives for the colonists. Since there were 
more than a hundred single men in the colony you 
may imagine that the wedding bells rang merrily 
during that Jul}^, 1704. In a few days all of the girls 
were married and somewhere within the eighty 
wooden houses of the fort they found homes— and 
happiness maybe. Not one of the girl's name is 
known but this much is told : one of the French girls 
married a man named Jousset, and their little son, 
Claude Jousset, was the first Creole born in Ala- 
bama. Let us hope that the days were not quite so 
long and lonely for the ten French children after 
their new little plajnnate arrived, and while we are 

21 



22 HISTOEY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

hoping, we might as well hope that all of the Jousset 
family lived happy ever afterwards. 

Twelve Ugly Ducklings 
Ten years later, another group of girls was sent 
over from France to marry among the colonists. 
There were only twelve of these girls and they did 
not receive the welcome in America they no doubt 
expected. Nature, it seems, had neglected to make 
them beautiful and the men there in the woods were 
as particular about the women they married as 
though women were plentiful. One of the officers 
wrote the French Minister that only two of the girls 
had found husbands. He also suggested that the next 
shipment of wives-to-be should be selected with more 
taste, hinting broadly that preference would be given 
to pretty maids. Whether or not the twelve ugly 
ducklings turned into swans and flew away to a state 
of bliss is not recorded. But they doubtless found a 
husband apiece and then made excellent helpmates 
for the colonists. 

Girls of the Chest 

Every now and then a shipload of girls came to 
Louisiana and they must have been very brave girls 
indeed to venture into the wilds of America as they 
did. The "Girls of the Chest" came one day in 1727. 
Each carried a little chest containing her simple 
wardrobe and because of this they were called "Girls 
of the Chest." 

A number of Nuns came along to take care of the 
girls until the Prince Charmings should present 



GIELS WHO CAME TO AN UNKNOWN LAND 23 

themselves. These girls were good, obedient young 
women who remained with the kind Sisters until the 
proper man took them for better or for worse. 

Perhaps you wonder which of the girls who came 
to Louisiana Bienville married. Bienville never 
married. All of the love and devotion he had to give 
was given to his beloved Louisiana. But he was glad 
for the colonists to have homes and home-makers. 



THE EMPEROR OF COWETA 

How the French Made Friends with the Indians 

HE was only a boy of eighteen but he felt as im- 
portant as though he were eighty years old and 
the ruler of the whole world. That was the Emperor 
of Coweta, chief of the Lower Creeks. 

The French commandant at Fort Toulouse was 
very anxious to make friends with the Lower Creeks 
and to persuade them away from their English 
friends in Georgia. So when it was announced that 
the Emperor of Coweta was coming from his home 
on the Chattahoochee to visit the French on the Coosa 
river great preparations were made for entertaining 
the visitors. Just before the Emperor reached 
Grey's Ferry, a French officer, Bossu, went forth to 
meet him. Bossu took the Emperor by the hand and 
bade him welcome. That was the signal for the sol- 
diers to fire a salute. When the noise of the cannon 
roared out in the woods, the Emperor of Coweta was 
filled with pride and delight. He thought better of 
himself than ever and rode into the fort with great 
dignity and self-importance. But if he had known 
how the French soldiers, marching behind him, were 
laughing over his appearance, the young ruler might 
not have felt so proud of himself. On his head the 
Emperor wore a crest of black plumes. His coat was 
scarlet and trimmed with tinsel lace. A white linen 

24 



THE EMPEEOE OF COWETA 



25 



shirt, which seemed to be his especial pride, was quite 
as conspicuous as his haughty manner. The dressed- 
up Emperor was mounted on a splendid horse and 
accompanied by a number of gaily-painted braves. 

The coimnandant, D'Aubant, made a ringing 
speech of welcome and did all in his power to make 
the visit an enjoyable one. The next day at ten 




AN INDIAN PICNIC 

o'clock, all of the French soldiers were drawn up in 
full uniform, while the Indian ruler walked past 
them with a grand air of inspecting them. At noon, 
the French and Indian officers dined together. The 
Emperor took his seat with a calm and superior 
mien. But what to do with that knife and fork at 
his place, he did not know. He seemed greatly em- 



26 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

barrassed, but his chief adviser settled the question 
of table manners by seizing in his hands the breast 
and backbone of a turkey which he broke in two with 
a swift jerk. "The Master of Life made fingers be- 
fore knives and forks were made," declared the chief 
adviser. 

Behind the Emperor's chair stood his body ser- 
vant. The Indian servant watched with curious eyes 
the mustard which the white men ate with their 
boiled meat. "What is that they eat with their 
meat?" asked the Indian, of a Frenchman. The sol- 
dier politely handed a spoonful of the hot mustard to 
the Indian who swallowed it eagerly. But the man 
regretted his curiosity the next moment. The mus- 
tard began burning him. With a wild whoop and 
wilder gestures the Red Man cavorted around yell- 
ing that he was poisoned. D'Aubant finally per- 
suaded the Indian that he was not poisoned and suc- 
ceeded in calming the fellow with a drink of brandy. 
Later on, the Emperor of Coweta and his followers 
leturned to their homes on the Chattahoochee where, 
no doubt, they entertained their friends for many 
days by telling tales of the strange ways of the white 
men. 



GAME LOSERS 

Conditions During Early Settlement 

ABOUT three months after the French captain 
assisted in entertaining the Emperor of Coweta, 
he was ordered to return to Mobile. Shortly after he 
reached the Gulf City he was ordered to go to Fort 
Tombecbe which was on the Tombigbee river. It 
took Bossu and his men seven days to go from ^fo- 
bile to the mouth of the Tombigbee, a trip which 
boats now make in four hours. Where the Tombig- 
bee and Alabama come together to make the Mobile 
river, Bossu and his soldiers went ashore and camped 
for the night. 

If you have ever been on the river bank in the 
month of August you know something about the 
mosquitoes there. Way back in the eighteenth cen- 
tury the mosquitoes were just as ill-behaved as they 
are today. Bossu had no mosquito nets, so to protect 
himself from mosquito bites, he made a little tent in 
which to sleep. Placing long canes in the ground he 
bent them over so that they formed an arch. Over 
this arch he threw a linen sheet which reached the 
ground all around. Under this tent he j^laced a bear 
skin ; then he rolled himself up in one corner of the 
tent cloth and went to sleep. One night he took a 
string of fish inside the tent with him and, for safe 
keeping, placed them near his feet on the bear 

27 



28 



HISTORY STOETES OF ALABAMA 



skin. Suddenly, he felt himself jerked with great 
foree toward tlie river. He sprang u\r calling for 
help. When the soldiers came running to see what 
w^as the matter they found an enormous alligator 




CATCHING ALLIGATORS 



dragging tent, bear skin, fish, Bossu and all off to the 
river. The fish and tent cloth disappeared beneath 
the waters of the Tombigbee before the men could 
prevent the loss. But the captain managed to save 
himself and the bear skin from the hungry alligator. 
Not many days after Bossu lost the string of fish 
food became scarce. He sent some of his men with 
several Indians in the party to look for game. Be- 
fore long they came upon an eagle's nest, away up 
in a l)ig tree. With their axes they cut off the big 



GAME LOSEES 29 

limbs and the nest fell to the ground. In the nest 
they found four young eagles, besides several rab- 
bits, partridges, wild turkeys and pigeons, which the 
old eagles had brought home. The two old eagles 
were there, too, and such a fight as those big birds 
gave the hungry soldiers ! They pecked and fought, 
they slapped their wings and screamed with fury. 
But there were more men than eagles, so at last the 
men won the battle. For the rest of that journey 
Bossu and his men had plenty of meat. They 
reached Jones' Bluff or Fort Tombecbe before their 
supply was exhausted. 



A RUSSIAN PRINCESS 

An Early Romance at Wetumpka 

SHE ma}^ have been a Russian princess or she may 
not. Some people said that she was only a ward- 
robe maid who had learned to imitate her mistress. 

The story goes this way. Alexis Petrowitz, son of 
Peter the Great, married a beautiful and accom- 
[)lished young woman whose name was Elizabeth. 
But Alexis Petrowitz was a very mean, low sort of a 
prince who treated his lovely wife brutally. To es- 
cape from her cruel husband, the young princess pre- 
tended to die. She was buried in a tomb. But her 
friends came a few hours later and took her away. 
They put her aboard a German ship with two hun- 
dred German immigrants, all of whom came to find 
peace and comfort in the new world. 

A French officer, D'Aubant, recognized Eliza- 
beth, he said, in spite of the fact that she was dressed 
in inexpensive garments when she reached Mobile. 
He declared that he had seen the young woman in St. 
Petersburg and knew perfectly well that she really 
was the daughter-in-law of Peter the Great. Not 
very long after her arrival in America, Elizabeth 
and D'Aubant were married. They lived in Mobile 
for some time where D'Aubant had his headquarters. 

One day the French officer told his wife that he 
had been ordered to take charge of Fort Toulouse 



A RUSSTAIsr PRINCESS 31 

near the present town of Wetumpka. He kissed his 
wife and little daughter goodbye, promised that they 
should soon join him and then set out on horseback 
for his new post. The one-time princess waited from 
March until June, then she determined to join her 
husband. With one servant and her little daughter, 
D'Aubant's wife set out from Mobile in a rude little 
boat and traveled for days and days up the river 
toward Fort Toulouse. At length she arrived at the 
foit and received a royal welcome. D'Aubant was 
overjoyed to see his family again and the men of 
the fort began at once building a cabin for the 
D 'Aubants. 

The brick chimney of this cabin stood for years 
on the outskirts of the old town of Wetumpka and 
the residents always pointed out to visitors the place 
wheie a Russian princess once made her home. When 
at last D'Aubant returned to France his wife and 
daughter followed him, but the beautiful princess 
never forgot her exciting experiences in the land they 
called Louisiana. 



HIS MOTHER 

An Indian's Courage 

GREAT excitement prevailed at Fort Toulouse, 
for a French soldier had been killed by an In- 
dian. 

When Fort Toulouse was first established the 
French and the Indians had made this agreement : 
If an Indian is killed, the Frenchman who committed 
the crime must die ; if a French soldier is killed, then 
the Indian murderer shall be put to death. As soon 
as the French officer heard that one of his men had 
been killed he demanded that the murderer be de- 
livered at once to justice. "He is gone. We cannot 
find him, ' ' said the Indians. ' ' Then his nearest rela- 
tive must pay the penalty," said D'Ernville, "and 
that is the man 's mother. " " But the mother did not 
kill the Frenchman," answered the Indian chief. 
' ' You know that is the custom of your people and you 
must not forget your agreement," replied the French 
officer. The Indians offered to pay with furs and 
horse loads of booty if the old woman's life was 
spared. But D'Ernville demanded that the mother 
be brought into the fort to suffer death. The Indians 
followed the terror-stricken squaw into the fort, and 
wailed dismally as she was led to the place of execu- 
tion. "My mother-in-law dies courageously. She 
has not struck the blow," cried one of her relatives. 

32 



HIS MOTHEE 33 

The motlier did not die, however, for the young 
warrior who had committed the crime burst through 
the cane brakes, where he was hiding, walked boldly 
up to the French officer and gave himself up. The 
story does not end happily. For the French officer 
ordered the young brave's immediate execution. 



PRINCESS MARY 

James Oglethorpe Comes to Alabama 

JUST TO look at her playing there among the 
other Indian children you would never have 
thought that little Mary was a princess, but she was. 
She was not always called Mary. That was only her 
English name. The first name her mother gave her 
when she opened her little eyes, among the Muscogees 
in Alabama, was Consaponaheeso. 

When Mary was ten years old her father took 
her to South Carolina and placed her in school wdiere 
she was educated and instructed in Christianity. 
Mary went to her classes and probably knew the 
Catechism as well as any of the English girls. But 
all the time her heart was back in Alabama, where 
the Chattahoochee sang its song as it flowed past the 
Indian village of Coweta. One day Mary decided 
that she simply could not stand the aching loneliness 
any longer. So she gathered up her few special 
treasures and fled back to her forest home. 

You can imagine her welcome among her old 
playmates, and you can see her running from one be- 
loved spot to another, laughing with joy, at being 
back among her own people again. You can also 
imagine the looks of curiosity and interest in the 
others girls' faces as Mary showed them her English 
clothes and trinkets while she told them of the 
strange customs of the people of South Carolina. 

34 



PEINCESS MARY 35 

Just after Mary passed her sixteenth birthday, 
Colonel John Musgrove came with his son to Coweta 
to make peace with the Creek Indians along the 
Chattahoochee river. Young Musgrove saw Mary 
and, of course, lost his head and his heart. He just 
kept on loving Mary until at last he found himself 
telling her all about it. Mary told him something 
too, but that was her own affair— and his. And so 
they were married and lived happy for a long time 
afterwards. 

Mary being an Indian piincess was of great 
assistance to her husband in building up his trade 
among the Creeks. She understood both the English 
and the Indian languages, and was therefore doubly 
helpful to the trader whom she had married. 

Musgrove bought skins, furs, kegs of bear oil, 
hickory nut oil, snake root, herbs for medicine and 
other forest products. He gave in exchange blankets, 
guns, knives, hatchets, and trinkets of various kinds. 
After living among the ^Muscogees for a number of 
years, Mr. and Mrs. Musgrove, with their little child, 
moved back to South Carolina.- Seven years later 
Musgrove took charge of a trading house in Georgia. 

It was in Georgia that they met James Ogle- 
thorpe, who had brought a colony of debtors to settle 
in America. At that time people in England who 
owed a debt that could not be paid were put in prison 
and kept there until the money was paid. There were 
hundreds of poor men who were imprisoned and left 
without a chance to pay their debts. Oglethorpe was 
sorry for these unfortunate Englishmen and asked 



36 HISTOEY STOEIES OF ALABAMA 

permission to take them from prison, bring them to a 
new country and give them an opportunity to make 
an honest living. 

Of course the colonists lived through many hard- 
ships and constant danger. Numbers of times the 
Musgroves shared their food with the colonists, and 
times without number Mrs. Musgrove warned Ogle- 
thorpe's settlers of attacks which the Indians had 
planned. 

When Mary Musgrove was thirty-eight years old, 
and her husband had become a wealthy and influen- 
tial trader, Oglethorpe decided to go on a journey to 
the Creek country in Alabama. These kind-hearted 
people gave him information about the country and 
the Indians and did what they could toward having 
him well received at Coweta, when he arrived to make 
peace with the Indians. The Creeks received the 
founder of Georgia courteously, and entertained him 
in the best possible manner and best of all they signed 
the peace treaty which he brought. 

How much of his success was due to his own ef- 
forts and how much was due to the influence of the 
Indian princess back in Georgia is not known. At 
any rate he succeeded. So you see that little Consa- 
ponaheeso, who first opened her eyes at Coweta, Ala- 
bama, played an important part in the history of our 
country. 



STUNG ARM 

An Indian Princess Befriends the French 

STUNG ARM was furious. Something important 
was going on at the Village of the White Apple, 
and the Indian princess could not find out what it 
was. 

Now Stung Arm was not an Alat)ama woman, for 
there was no Alabama at the time Stung Arm be- 
friended the French. Alabama was part of the terri- 
tory just north of the Gulf of Mexico and east of the 
Mississippi river which was called Louisiana. This 
land was owned by any one who was strong enough 
to hold it. 

In Louisiana was the village of the White Apple, 
the pride of the Natchez Indians. For many, many 
years these stalwart Red Men had dwelt in this beau- 
tiful spot. But recently a French commandant, 
named Chopart, had taken charge of the post at 
Natchez and he announced to the Indians that they 
would have to move because he wished to build a 
magnificent colony where the village stood. Stung 
Arm knew all of that. She also knew that the Sun 
of the Apple, as the ruler was called, had stood up 
tall and straight and replied to Chopart: ''My an- 
cestors have lived here for as many years as there are 
hairs on my head. It is good that we should continue 
here. ' ' 

37 • 



3S TTISTOIJY STORIES OF.^LABAMA 

Without even waiting for the Indian to finish his 
speech, Chopart warned tlie Red INIen in leave at 
once. The arrogant connnandant stated tliat the Vil- 
hige of the White Apple was the spot that he had 
chosen and the Indians had as Avell leave quietly and 
quickly. "I will call my old men together in comi- 
cil," the Sun answered as he walked away. 

Later on the Sun of the Apple came hack to tell 
Chopart that the Council thought it only fair that 
they be allowed to remain in their homes until their 
crops were gathered. "The corn is shot a little out 
of the earth and the hens are all laying eggs," said 
the councilmen, "If we leave now it will be a loss to 
ourselves and to you." But Chopart answered 
haughtily, "Go! Go at once!" Then the old men 
said, "If you will let us stay until our crops are 
gathered we will each give you a basket of corn and 
a fowl." To this Chopart agreed. 

Now the Indians had no idea of giving the French 
commandant anything. They were only playing for 
time. Messengers were sent in every direction to tell 
the Indians that on a certain date the French were 
to be killed to a man. "Unless we do this", said the 
chiefs, "we will soon be nothing but slaves". For 
very good reasons, the men kept quiet about theii* 
plans, and the princess, Stung Arm, was not invited 
to the meetings. She usually attended the council 
meetings for she was a woman of wit and wisdom 
and her opinion was respected by the young and the 
old of the village. Besides she was the mother of 
Grand Sun, who was very fond of her. 



STUNG AKIil 39 

Instead of flying into a rage and demanding her 
rights, Stung Arm calmly approached her son, with 
a smile, and determination in her eyes. "I wish yon 
would come with me to visit a sick relative at the Vil- 
lage of the Meal", she told him. Then she persuaded 
him to walk with her the longest way round, while 
she made herself very interesting and agreeable. 
With great tact she brought up the subject of the 
secret council, and at last reproached him for the 
secrecy which he and the other Suns had observed 
toward her. "I am a princess and I am your 
mother", she reminded him. "You know that you 
are the son of a Frenchman", Stung Arm told Grand 
Sun, "but my own blood is far dearer to me than that 
of the strangers. You need never be afraid that I 
will betray you to the French against whom you are 
plotting." Then Grand Sun answered, "It is un- 
usual to reveal what the old men of the council have 
resolved upon, and as Grand Sun, I should set a good 
example. But seeing that you have guessed the 
whole affair, I need not inform you further. You 
know as much as I do myself. Only hold your 
tongue." 

Stung Arm congratulated herself on her own 
shrewdness and proceeded to secure more informa- 
tion. She declared that the French were very smart 
people and she feared that the Indians had not 
planned aright. With that Grand Sun boasted of 
his deep-laid schemes. "All of the nations have 
agreed to fall upon the French on the same day," he 
told the craftv woman. "The bundle of rods alreadv 



40 



HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 



lies in the Temple on the flat timbers," bragged the 
young ruler. 

The Indians, you know had no timepiece except 
the sun, and no calendar at all. So if a chief decided 
to make an attack on a certain day, he sent a messen- 
ger to inform his allies. To the messenger the chief 
gave the same number of sticks that he kept himself. 




STARTING ON THE WAR PATH 

The Chief placed his sticks in the Temple and every 
day he threw one away. The messenger also thi'ew 
away one every day until all of the sticks were gone. 
Then the}" knew that the time for the attack had ar- 
rived. The same method was used for announcing 
feast days or other Indian affairs. So when her 
son said, "The bundle of rods already lies in the 



STUNG AHM 41 

Temple," Stimg Arm knew that the attack would 
soon be made upon the French people. 

While Grand Sun told her of his plans, she list- 
ened eagerly and pretended to be very much pleased. 
But she was silently forming a scheme to warn the 
French settlers. Back to the fort went Stung Arm. 
There she hunted up a beautiful Indian girl who was 
in love with a French officer, De Mace. The girl was 
distracted over the news which the princess brought. 
Stung Arm advised her to warn her lover but in no 
case to tell anyone else. The girl went at once to De 
Mace, telling him that the Indians had planned to kill 
every French man and woman in Louisiana on the 
same day. De Mace, in turn, warned the command- 
ant, Chopart, but instead of heeding the warning, 
Chopart declared that De Mace was giving a false 
alarm and the young man was imprisoned. 

Stung Arm learned of the commandant's stupid- 
ity and contrived to send other warnings. But all of 
the men who brought this information to Chopart 
were punished. In all, seven soldiers were placed 
under arrest for advising the commandant of the 
proposed attack. Then the princess became alarmed. 
She was afraid that her own people would discover 
what she had done and she was likewise afraid that 
the French settlers would all be murdered. 

One night she slipped into the Temple and drew 
out several of the sticks in the bundle. "This will 
hasten the attack," she thought, "then the Indians 
will not fall upon the French all together. Some of 
the white people may escape and warn their friends 



42 HISTORY STOEIES OF ALABAMA 

down the river. ' ' Sure enough when the Suns found 
that the sticks in the Temple were all gone they pre- 
pared to fall upon the French and to kill every one 
of them. 

The French at Natchez were horribly slaughtered. 
But some of them escaped and went to their friends 
in other parts of Louisiana. It is quite likely that a 
few of them found their way into Alabama territory 
and thus saved the lives of the white people here. 

Whether Stung Arm really loved the French peo- 
ple or whether she was only taking revenge because 
she was angry about the secret councils of the men is 
not known. It makes no difference as far as the re- 
sults are concerned. She saved the white settlers 
from a dreadful fate when she slipped those sticks 
from the bundle in the Temple. 



LACHLAN McGILLIVRAY 

English Traders Come Among the Indians 

DOWN the gang plank of the vessel which had 
just landed at Charleston, South Carolina, 
came a red-haired Scotch lad, bringing with him all 
of his earthly possessions, which consisted of one suit 
of clothes which he wore, one lone shilling, about 
twenty cents, a stout, healthy body, and a disposition 
which knew neither fear nor unhappiness. . 

Lachlan McGillivray was sixteen years old. His 
parents were wealthy Scotch people, living in Dun- 
maglass, Scotland. They were, doubtless, kind to 
their son, but Lachlan had been reading and thinking 
so much about the new country across the Atlantic 
that finally he found himself aboard a vessel sailing 
over the sea to America. 

In a short time after McGillivray landed at 
Charleston, he made his way out to the traders^ quar- 
ters in the suburbs of the town. There he saw hun- 
dreds of pack horses, pack saddles, curious looking 
horsemen, and great packs of merchandise, all ready 
to be carried into the wilderness. These were Eng- 
lish traders and they were starting out with their 
loads of blankets, knives, guns, trinkets, and more 
useful articles for the Indians. These they would 
exchange for skins, furs, and all sorts of forest 
products. 

43 



44 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

Lachlan McGillivray stood watching the prepara- 
tions probably wishing with all of his heart that he 
could mount one of those big horses and ride away 
with the men. A keen-eyed trader noticed the boy's 
eager face, and presently, he went over to where the 
boy stood. "How would you like to go along, Son?" 
asked the trader. Of course the boy would like very 
much to go along so the next day he was riding 
through the woods of Carolina driving before him a 
string of pack horses. 

When the caravan reached the Chattahoochee 
river way down in Georgia his employer gave Lach- 
lan a jack-knife as a reward for his hard work and 
accommodating spirit. If you think the red-haired 
Scotch boy carried that knife in his pocket until he 
lost it that is where you are mistaken. Boys did not 
receive a new knife every Christmas in that day and 
time and Lachlan McGillivray had a business head 
on his square shoulders. 

He walked around until he found an Indian with 
something to trade. You can imagine him showing 
the Red Man the big sharp blades and you can also 
imagine the puzzled look when the Indian jabbered 
something which the Scotchman could not under- 
stand. At any rate the boy made a good trade for he 
carried back several skins to Charleston, where he 
sold them. The money he received for them was in- 
vested in merchandise and again the Scotch lad went 
to the Indian villages to trade with the savages. In 
a few years Lachlan McGillivray was one of the 
wealthiest traders in the whole country. 



STUNG ARM 45 

His trade with the Indians brought McGillivray 
into Alabama. He was often seen at Fort Toulouse, 
which was only a short distance from an Indian vil- 
lage called Plickory Ground. One day he rode into 
Hickory Ground looking for barter, but he found 
another attraction which made him forget his trad- 
ing for awhile. Beautiful Sehoy Marchand, whose 
father was a French officer and whose mother was an 
Indian princess, was only sixteen years old when Mc- 
Gillivray first saw her. Before she was seventeen 
she became the wife of Lachlan McGillivray. He 
built a home for her at Little Tallassee, four miles 
above Wetumpka, and took his young wife there to 
live. McGillivray established a trading house at Lit- 
tle Tallassee on the Coosa river and with the help 
of his wife's people he met with remarkable success 
in his business. 

You ought to know that before Sehoy Marchand 
married McGillivray she was the widow of an Indian 
chieftain and the mother of a little girl named Sehoy. 
Three Sehoys also helped make Alabama history for 
they belonged to the mighty Tribe of the Wind and 
wielded much influence over their people. The first 
Sehoy mai'ried Colonel Marchand; her daughter 
married Lachlan McGillivray, and the granddaugh- 
ter, Sehoy, was the mother of William Weatherford. 

There was no reason why Lachlan McGillivray 
and his Indian wife, Sehoy, should not have been 
happy together for many years. God sent them a 
splendid baby boy, whom they named Alexander. 
Then came two little girls, Sophia and Jeannette. 



ALEXANDER McGILLIVRAY 

A Man Whose Power Affected the Nation 

A TALL, slender young man stood silent and idle, 
dreaming dreams of his mother's people. And 
his face was towards the southwest. The young man 
was Alexander McGillivray and the thoughts which 
diifted through his powerful mind were of bows and 
arrows, an old blow-gun, and a collection of fishing 
tackle. His mother's house by the side of the Coosa 
river, the sweet faces of his young sisters, Sophia 
and Jeannette, and the Indian boys, who were once 
his playmates, formed jjart of the young man's 
musings. 

Alexander McGillivray was then in school at 
Charleston, South Carolina. Once before, when he 
was only fourteen years old, his father had sent him 
away to school. The boy remained a while at 
Charleston, then returned to his home where his 
father expected him to work in a counting house. 
But Alexander was a complete failure as a clerk in 
a trading house. While other clerks were hard at 
work yoimg McGillivray would be sitting in some 
quiet corner reading books. At last Lachlan McGil- 
livray said, "If Alexander wishes to be a scholar, a 
scholar he shall be." And forthwith the son of the 
wealthy Scotchman was packed oft" to school again. 

40 



ALEXANDER ]\rcGlLLlVRAY 47 

His time had been well spent in Charleston and 
he was one of the best educated men in America, but 
now Alexander McGillivray was a man and the In- 
dian blood in his veins was calling him home to the 
woods of Alabama. So he turned his back upon 
civilization and his horse's head toward home. 

A royal welcome awaited young McGillivray in 
Alabama. For the Creek Indians were in need of a 
bold leader at that time and already they had been 
talking among themselves of Alexander McCilli- 
vray's right to leadership. Because his mother, 
Sehoy Marchand McGillivray, was a member of the 
Wind family and the granddaughter of a chieftain, 
the position of chief now fell to Sehoy's only son, 
Alexander. 

McGillivray took charge of affairs with great 
zest. He called himself an "emperor" and ruled 
with such splendid airs that the Indians were greatly 
impressed and very much pleased. They came to 
look upon their leader as the greatest power in the 
world— and he was, in their world. They had abso- 
lute confidence in him and believed that sooner or 
later, he could make all of the Red Men and all of 
the white ones do his bidding. How much of their 
faith in him was justified, you shall see— as they say 
in story books. 

When the Revolutionary War began in 1776, 
Lachlan McGillivray remained faithful to the King 
of England. He gave his efforts and much of his 
wealth to defeating the colonists. Alexander Mc- 
Gillivrav also served his English Majesty and was 



-IS HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

made a colonel, with a colonel's pay in tlie English 
army. HoAvever, the Indian Emperor Avas no fighter. 
He was a diplomat. That means that he schemed 
and contrived to make other people carry out his 
plans. It was an easy matter for him to induce the 
Indians to fight against the Americans, His smooth 
tongue and his remarkable power over men secured 
for the British army many Indian warriors. 

But George Washington's brave soldiers won just 
the same. Then the Red Coats, who were not killed, 
jumped into their little boats and sped back to Eng- 
land as fast as sails could carry them. A¥ith the Eng- 
lish army went Lachlan McGillivray with as much of 
his personal property as he could carry on one ship. 

The Americans hated the Scotchman for the part 
he had taken in the war and he had to flee for his 
life. McGillivray 's land and houses were seized by 
the government as part pay for the damage he had 
done. His wife and daughters were left penniless in 
Alabama. All that saved Alexander's life was the 
fact that he was a mighty leader of the Creeks and 
the Americans greatly desired peace with the In- 
dians. When the English no longer needed Alexan- 
der's services they waved him a polite farewell and 
left him to look out for himself. If there was any 
one thing that Alexander McGillivra,y could do well 
it was to look out for himself. That was his chief 
business in life. He moved men around as though 
they were little things on a checker board and every 
time one moved it meant money in McGillivray 's 
pocket. 



ALEXANDER McGILLIVEAY 49 

When the British deserted him it made him furi- 
ous. But he did not allow that to worry him long. 
He took off the bright red uniform, put back on the 
garb of an Indian chieftain and began scheming 
again. There were many rich Spaniards down in 
Florida with large quantities of gold. McGillivray 
decided that he might as well share that gold with the 
Spanish settlers. He managed to let them know that 
he was ready to do favors for them if they cared to 
make it sufficiently interesting for the great Indian 
Emperor. 

The Spaniards, as McGillivray knew, were most 
anxious to keep the Americans out of the South and 
to keep the Indians from trading with them. McGil- 
livray felt sure he could manage that. But how 
much would the Spanish Government pay him? 
"We will make you a colonel in the Spanish army 
with a salary of $3,500 a year." ''What else?" Mc- 
Gillivray wanted to know. "We will appoint you 
commissary man to distribute presents and supplies 
to the Indians," said the Spaniards. "Is there any- 
thing else?" suggested the politician. "Our Gulf 
ports will be open to your traders and we will assist 
them in sending their pelfry across the ocean," 
promised the Spaniards. 

Then McGillivray dressed up in the Spanish uni- 
form and went back to his admiring subjects. Al- 
most immediately he began stirring up trouble be- 
tween the Americans and the Spaniards. He would 
incite an Indian attack upon American settlers and 
another upon the Spanish. He made them all un- 



50 HI STONY STOIHES OF ALABAMA 

easy and kept them in constant snspense while he 
continued to draw his salary from the Spanish gov- 
ernment. 

McGillivray w^as always kind to those who needed 
help; he was cheerful, polite and seemingly gener- 
ous. He made friends by the score and then used 
them for his own gain. The Creeks and the Semi- 
noles looked to McGillivray for guidance. He guided 
them, to be sure, and he was really more faithful to 
his Indian subjects than to anyone else, but he used 
them whenever it suited his own convenience. He 
made them kill and plunder in order that he might 
increase his owai wealth and power. 

The attacks upon the Americans become so fre- 
quent and proved so fatal to the settlements that 
finally President Washington knew that something 
would have to be done. So he sent Colonel Willett, 
a most powerful statesman, to see McGillivray and 
to make peace with the Indians. For everyone knew 
that Alexander McGillivray had more influence with 
the Creeks and Seminoles than anyone else in the 
whole country. 

All of the chiefs were assembled and Colonel Wil- 
lett made them a telling speech. "Our great White 
Chief, George Washington," he said, "has sent me 
to bring a message of affection to you and to invite 
you to his council house in New York." Then Colo- 
nel Willett told them that the great White Chief 
loved the Red Men and wished them to ])e happy, 
contented and protected. Even McGillivray listened 
with interest to this speaker and in the end he prom- 



ALEXANDEE McGILLIVRAY 51 

ised to take his chiefs and go back with Colonel Wil- 
lett to New York to see the President. He did not 
promise to sign a peace treaty but expressed his 
willingness to listen to the President's proposal. 

Before many moons, McGillivray with his 
nephew, two servants, and the government agent, 
set out on horseback from Little Tallassee. An 
imposing group of warriors traveled toward the 
capital of the United States, for chiefs joined the 
party along the way and all of them rode fine horses. 
On the way they stopped to rest at the home of Gen- 
eral Pickens in South Carolina where they were re- 
ceived with great courtesy. General Pickens fur- 
nished wagons for the rest of the journey and from 
there the majority of the chiefs rode in these wagons. 
Colonel Willett was given a surrey for his journey, 
while McGillivray, with four body guards, continued 
on horseback. 

When they reached Philadelphia they were en- 
tertained in splendid style for three days. For all 
of the white people in the country were anxious to 
make peace with the Indians and they knew the 
mission of the party to New York. From Philadel- 
phia they went to Elizabethtown, New Jersey, where 
they took passage on a sailing vessel to New York. 
When they landed at New York they were met by a 
gay set of Capitol folks, dressed in gorgeous cos- 
tumes. With all of the noise, music, and ceremony 
that even an Indian could desire, they were marched 
ujj Wall street, then by the Federal Hall, where 
Congress was in session, and next to the home of the 
President. 



53 HISTORY STOEIES OF ALABAMA 

George Washington and Alexander McGillivray 
met and took each other's measure. They both 
measured up to the standard in the matter of brains 
and physique. The great difference hiy in the souls 
of the two men. Washington was planning for his 
country's welfare while McGillivray was scheming 
for his own personal benefit. But Washington out- 
witted the schemer after all. 

A glorious day's entertainment was followed by 
a magnificent banquet. For days the Indians were 
kept in New York and shown every attention. They 
were frankly delighted with their entertainers and 
with the city. Even McGillivray felt the influence 
of the hospitable treatment. Probably the only 
thing that the savages did not like about New York 
was the feather beds which white people slept on at 
that time. The old chiefs tossed and rolled and 
grunted with disgust over the soft beds. At last 
they arose in desperation, tore open the bed tick- 
ing, scattered the feathers on the floor, and lay 
down upon them for the rest of the night. Some 
of them caught cold and one or two developed pneu- 
monia from the effects of the city's comforts. But 
before they left, the peace treaty had been signed 
and there was Alexander McGillivray 's signature in 
black and white, promising to keep peace forever 
with the white settlers. 

The United States Government made McGilli- 
vray a brigadier-general at a salary of $1,200 a year. 
He still kept his position with the Spanish govern- 
ment with a salary of $3,500 a year. Besides, he 



ALEXANDER McGILLIVEAY 53 

was the ruler of two Indian nations and he was in 
the trading business with a man named Panton, who 
might be described as "a shrewd trader." McGil- 
livray finally became so entangled in his own web of 
schemes that life lost its charm and he went to his 
grave in sorrow and shame. But because he was so 
powerful at one time he has been called "Alabama's 
most distinguished citizen." 



THE HEROINE OF LITTLE RIVER 

How the Tensaw Settlers were Saved 

SOPHIA McGILLIVRAY'S dark eyes were 
])right with excitement and the red showed be- 
neath the brown of her pretty face. It was her 
escort who had just been proclaimed the champion 
fighter of the nation. 

A few weeks before the day of the match Ben- 
jamin Durant arrived at Little Tallassee, where he 
announced that he had come to find the man who 
was said to be his superior in strength. Durant was 
a young giant and he had conquered every man who 
had fought against him in South Carolina. Then 
one day a traveler told the young fighter that there 
was a big brawny Indian down on the Coosa river 
who could whip anybody. Durant decided to find 
out for himself. That is wl\y the handsome Hugue- 
not thought he had come to Alabama. But it is 
quite possible that he had a wild streak in his blood 
and could not control the wander-lust which led him 
into the unknown wilderness of the South. So it 
was arranged that the champion of the Creek nation 
should meet Durant in combat at Hickory Ground. 
The Indians came from far and near to witness the 
mighty struggle betwoon the white man and the 
Indian. 

With Benjamin Durant went Sophia McGilli- 
vray. Both were young and both were remarkably 

54 



THS HEROTA^E OF LITTLE ElYER 55 

good, looking, so it is not strange that they shonld 
have been attracted t(^ each other. You remember 
that Sophia's father was the Scotchman, Lachlan 
McGillivrav. Her mother was beautiful Sehoy 
Marchand McGillivrav, and her grandfather was 
the French officer. Colonel Marchand. Sophia, there- 
fore, had Scotch, French, and Indian blood in her 
veins. But she had been reared among the Indians. 

Perhaps she hoped that the Indian brave would 
win the fight against the handsome stranger; per- 
haps she did not. At any rate, when Benjamin Du- 
raut whipped his antagonist, after a tremendous 
fight, and the noisy crowd cheered the conqueror, 
Sophia's eyes sparkled and her pulse beat high with 
something strangely akin to triumph. 

Before very long Sophia McOillivray became Mrs. 
Benjamin Durant. They did not have a big church 
wedding with sister Jeannette as maid of honor. 
Durant simply took his young wife, according to the 
customs of the Indians, and they went to live on one 
of her father's plantations on the Savannah river. 
Durant became very wealthy as the husbands of In- 
dian princesses had a way of doing. Later in life 
they came back to Alabama and settled on a large 
tract of land between Selma and Montgomery. 
" Durant 's Bend" was the name given to this tract 
located in a bend of the Alabama river. 

What may seem surprising to some good people 
who are inclined to talk at length about ''a woman's 
sphere" is the fact that Alexander McGillivray had 
an exalted opinion of his sister's ability and often 



oG HISTOEY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

called upon her to make speeches to the chiefs gath- 
ered in council. Sophia Durant had an air of au- 
thority and a most convincing manner of speaking. 
Besides this, she knew the Indian language better 
than did her brother who had spent a great part of 
his life away from the Indian nations. No matter 
what the Creek warriors thought of their own 
squaws nor how they treated the squaws, when 
Sophia Durant spoke, they listened with respect. 

When Alexander McGillivray went with Colonel 
Willett to New York in the summer of 1790 to make 
the treaty of peace, Mrs. Durant knew that she 
would have to watch the Indian braves who were 
left behind. At that time she was living on Little 
river, on the line between the present counties of 
Baldwin and Monroe. One day a half-dead messen- 
ger staggered into the Durant home. ''An attack!" 
he whispered, "the Indians are planning to fall 
upon the Tensaw settlers and put them all to death." 
Without an hour's waiting, Mrs. Durant mounted 
her horse, ordered a negro woman to follow on an- 
other horse, and with no protection, they set out 
on the long ride through the woods. At night they 
camped imder the trees. By day they rode as rapid- 
ly as they dared, over the partly hidden paths, 
through the valleys and across the hills. On the 
fourth day they arrived at Hickory Ground where 
councils w^ere always held. 

''Assemble the chiefs at once," Mrs. Durant com- 
manded. In a few moments the chiefs had gathered 
to listen to her words. "If you dare to do this 



THE HEROINE OF LITTLE RIVER 57 

tiling you are planning to do, in my brother's ab- 
sence, you will answer to Alexander McGillivray 
when he. returns," she threatened. Then with all the 
power of speech with which she was blessed, she ad- 
dressed those painted warriors, until reason came 
back to them and a degree of submission showed in 
their faces. "Arrest the ringleaders," McGillivray 's 
sister ordered in the best McGillivray style. So in- 
stead of leading their blood-thirsty warriors to vic- 
tory over the white settlers the fiery chiefs were sent 
by a woman, like misbehaving children, to be pun- 
ished. The attack upon the white settlers was thus 
prevented and Sophia McGillivray earned the title 
of "The Heroine of Little River." 



THE CAMP ANGEL 

British Refugees Wander Through Alabama 

THROUGH the dismal (3aiie brakes, which flour- 
ish along the banks of the Mississippi, a party 
of English people made their way. There were more 
than a hundred j^eople in this party and they were 
not all strong men either. For there Avere women 
and children trudging thi'ough the swamps carrying 
their few precious belongings in their arms. Sev- 
eral little babies came along also, though they could 
not understand in the least the reason for that tire- 
some going, going, going. 

However, there was a very good reason for the 
going. These fugitives had left their homes in Nat- 
chez and started on the long journey toward the 
British settlements on the Savannah river because 
that was their only hope of safety from the ci'uel 
Spaniards. 

The quarrel which had gone on for so many years 
between the Spanish and the English, over what was 
then known as West Florida, had ])een settled for the 
time being in favor of S])ain. But the English set- 
tlers resented being under Spanish rule and deter- 
mined to overthrow the Spanish. AVhen they heard 
that there was a powerful English fleet off the coast 
of Florida, the English settlers began a series of at- 
tacks upon the Spanish government. One night 

58 



THE CAMP AND EL 59 

some Eiigiislimeii arrested a messenger who was car- 
rying a letter to the Spanish commandant. In this 
letter a certain Captain Mcintosh begged the com- 
mandant to hold out a little longer. ''Help is near 
at hand," he wrote. 

In the English company there was a soldier who 
could imitate the handwriting of others. So he slyly 
destroyed the letter and wrote another in its place. 
In this letter he said, "The insurgents have dug a 
secret cave right under the Spanish fort. A deep 
ravine leads from the English fort to yours. A 
quantity of powder has been placed under your feet 
and it is ready to be exploded. All of the people 
over the country are flocking to the aid of the Brit- 
ish and I advise you to leave at once." Without 
knowing that this trick had been played the mes- 
senger took the letter on to the Spanish commander, 
who believed every word of the message. He did 
not wait for any proof. He left. 

A few days later the Spanish officer learned that 
he had been deceived. About this time a big Span- 
ish force completely overwhelmed the English and 
the whole of Florida fell into the hands of the mer- 
ciless Spaniards. The English families knew then 
that it meant death to remain, so they started out on 
their journey with their families, a few slaves and 
as much of their worldly goods as could be carried 
on the backs of horses. This was in May, 1781, 
while the Revolutionary War was raging along the 
Atlantic coast. But many of the people in what is 
now the Gulf States remained loyal to the King of 



no HTSTOKY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

England. This party consisted of Royalists. They 
knew that Washington's army wonld capture them 
if they Avent up the Mississippi; the Spaniards 
would murder them if they went down the river; 
and they were afraid of the savages lurking in the 
forest. So they just wandered about, cutting their 
way through the undergrowth until they reached 
the Mississii:)pi prairies. By the time they reached 
the praiiies, the hot summer had set in, and with it 
came the desperate need for water. At one time 
they went thirty-six hours without water. The chil- 
dren cried continually for just a little drink of 
water and the older people suffered terribly. Occa- 
sionally theV saw a clump of trees and rushed for- 
ward, only to be disappointed. Finally they gave 
up in despair. 

When they most needed a guardian angel, one 
arose in their own midst. Her name was Mrs. 
Dwight, wife of the physician in the party. She 
besought them to keep going until water was found. 
Men went forth to seai'ch but returned at night half 
dead with thirst and fatigue. Then -Mrs. Dwight set 
out herself to find water. Maybe God heard her 
praying and led her to the fountain. Where the 
foot of two hills came together she found a spot that 
made her hope. Here the men began to dig and in 
a few moments they found moisture. In a few min- 
utes more the slow dripping. of water was seen. 
Then, with renewed effort, the men dug deep into 
the gi'ound and a beautiful undei'ground fountain 
of water gushed forth. 



THE CAMP ANGEL 61 

A messenger carried the glad tidings and the 
crowd came rushing forward to quench their thirst. 
The horses literally pawed up the earth and the peo- 
ple surged around the spring, clamoring for water. 
But Dr. Dwight stationed a guard over the spring 
and allowed the people to drink only a few drops at 
a time until they were able to drink all they wanted. 
All night long the drinking went on. Next day the 
party filled vessels with water and started on their 
long journey again. Before the day was over they 
had camped near one of the branches of our oAvn 
Tombigbee river. 

Courage Wins Reward 

About a month after the party of Royalists fled 
from Natchez, they found themselves without food. 
To make matters worse they had only a small sup- 
ply of ammunition and that had to be saved for de- 
fense against their numerous enemies. So game 
could not be killed for food. Once they had nothing 
to eat all day except one big terrapin, divided 
among them. 

Probably you are thinking, "It served them 
right for not helping the Americans." But you see 
they lived so far from the troubles which brought 
on the war that they did not feel so bitter against 
the King of England as the colonists did who lived 
in the East. Anyway you will feel sorry for the 
women and children and you will have to admire 
Mrs. Dwight 's courage and common sense. 

After many days of aimless wandering, these 



62 J^ISTDUY STOIJIES OF ALABA^IA 

people found themselves in the hills of Blount coun- 
ty, Alabama. They had crossed the Tombigbee by 
means of log rafts and when they reached the War- 
rior river they waded from rock to rock in the shal- 
low parts and swam across the deep parts of the 
stream. A few days later they camped near the 
Oahaba river. During their journey through mid- 
dle Alabama they met an old Indian trader who 
gave them all of his provisions. He advised them 
to go South instead of trying to cross the mountains 
of Tennessee as they had thought they could do. 

The caravan, at last, reached the Coosa river in 
what is now Autauga county, a few miles below the 
Big Island. Here the river was both wide and deep, 
with jagged rocks sticking their ugly heads above the 
water. The current beat its way between the rocks 
and altogether it looked ver}^ discouraging to the 
weary travelers. They just said, "I can't," and lay 
down on the banks to die. But Mrs. Dwight had no 
idea of dying or of letting the others die. ''If just 
one man will accompany me, I will cross the river, ^' 
she cried. "Perhaps," she continued, "we will find 
a canoe on the other side or we may find a better 
crossing place." Di*. Dwight announced that he was 
going with his wife and one other brave man also 
said that he would go. The three phmged their 
horses into the tui'bid river. They reached a huge 
lock pile in the middle of the stream and groped 
their way to tlu^ end of the ledge. ^Phc men made 
tlie leap froui the rock into the water below. Mrs. 
Dwight shut her eyes and followed them; she came 



THE CAMP AXCiEL 



n.3 



lip clinging to the horn of her saddle. The three 
reached the opposite shore with their horses and 
gave a shout of joy and triumph which floated back 
to their anxious friends on the other side of the river. 
About a mile up the stream the}^ found an old 
canoe which had been cast upon the rocks. After 
stopping the seams as best the}^ could, the men 










AX IXDIAN VILLAGE 



went back after the rest of the party, leaving Mrs. 
Dwight alone in that wilderness with the horses. 
For nearly two days the old boat crossed and re- 
crossed the stream carrying as many passengers as 
it could hold. After a twenty-mile tramp, they came 
into the Hickory Grounds on the outskirts of the 
pi'esent town of Wetumpka. 



64 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

Paro saves the Wanderers 

With fast beating hearts, and limbs that refused 
to be steady, three men entered the village of the 
Creek Indians at Hickory Ground. The}^ had no 
idea what their fate would be but they knew that 
further wandering without food meant death to 
their entire party. So the}^ went boldly into the 
danger which confronted every white man who en- 
tered a strange Indian village. Just as they had ex- 
pected, the white men received ugly looks and mut- 
tered threats from the savages. "Virginians! Long 
knives! No good," cried the Red Men viciously. Be- 
cause the three men rode on the same kind of sad- 
dles which the American soldiers used the Indians 
insisted that the wanderers were "AVhigs" who 
should be put to death. 

Colonel McGillivray w^as away and the Indians 
would doubtless have carried out their threats had 
not McGillivray 's body-servant arrived at an oppor- 
tune moment. Paro was an intelligent negro who 
understood both English and the Indian language. 
He told the Indians that the white men were harm- 
less and in need of assistance. He talked so earn- 
estly that finally an old Indian turned to the white 
men saying, "If you tell the truth, make the paper 
talk." They meant that if the white men's story 
was true, that it should be written down on paper. 

"If you have an old letter in your pocket, take 
it out and pretend to read what you have said about 
your journey," Paro whispered to the white men. 
One of them found an old letter and in a slow, sol- 



THE CAMP ANGEL 65 

emn tone he "read" therefrom the story of their 
sufferings. He told how they had left their homes 
in Natchez; how they had wandered through the 
woods and over the hills ; how they had suffered for 
food and water, and of the dangers that beset them 
on every hand. By the time the reading was fin- 
ished, the looks of hatred had changed to expres- 
sions of pity and the ugly knives were put away. 
One by one the Indians advanced to shake hands 
with the strangers. In a short time all of the white 
peoi3le were brought into the village where they 
were shown every kindness by the Indians. 

Rested and refreshed, the party resumed their 
march a few days later. After crossing the Flint 
river, the crowd, for some reason, divided. Part of 
them made their way to Savannah and the others 
were captured by American soldiers. However, they 
were released and finally found homes where they 
were safe from the Spaniards. 

It is a remarkable fact that during the five 
months' journey, so full of dangers and hardships, 
not one life was lost. But if Mrs. Dwight, "The 
camp angel," had not been there to direct and en- 
courage them, they might all have been lost long 
before they reached Alabama. 



A REAL HERO 

A Negro Saves the Lives of the Immigrants 

OYER the Blue Ridge mountains, came a party 
of immigrants from North Carolina to the Mis- 
sissippi territory. They came on horseback with 
their families, their slaves and their household 
goods, into the valley of the Tennessee. At Knox- 
ville they decided to break the hard journey by going 
in flatboats down the Tennessee river. They sent 
the horses through the country, in care of a few 
men, while the rest of the party boarded the crude 
boats and floated down the river as far as Muscle 
Shoals. 

At that time Alabama was not known as Ala- 
bama, but the land was included in what was then 
the Mississippi territory. These immigrants were 
trying to make their way to the "Bigby Settle- 
ments." They heard of St. Stephens and started to 
that fort, regardless of the fact that there was not 
even a path to show them the way. At the Muscle 
Shoals they left the boats and again took up their 
journey on horseback. Stopping occasionally to ask 
directions of friendly Indians, these travelers at last 
reached the ''Cotton Gin" on the Tombigbee river. 

"We can save time by building boats and going 
by water," they said. They stayed at the Cotton 
Gin long enough to build two rough canoes, although 



A EEAL HERO 67 

they had no tools except axes and grubbing hoes. 
Before long they had two forty-foot boats ready to 
launch. These they placed in the river, five feet 
apart, then bound them together with a kind of raft 
made of canes. On this platform, in the middle, 
they piled their household goods and the seven fam- 
ilies crowded into the boats. The negroes clung on 
somewhere, probably on top of the furniture. 

The children may have liked that moving day at 
first, but before very long something dreadful hap- 
pened. The boat was struck by a huge log which 
extended from the shore into the river. As the cur- 
rent was swift, the little craft was dashed to pieces 
and the whole party disappeared beneath the water. 
Some of the men swam out, with women and chil- 
dren in their arms; others swam out alone, grabbed 
poles or vines and held them out to those flounder- 
ing in the water. One little baby tumbled into that 
Tombigbee river but he came up alive in his mother's 
arms. His sister was the only white person drowned 
but twenty-one of the poor negroes were lost. 

At length all of those who were saved huddled 
together on the bank. Night came on and it was 
freezing cold. In the trees the owls hooted dismally 
and in the distance the howling of wolves could l:>e 
heard. Dripping wet and with nothing to start a 
fire the bravest of them almost gave up in despair. 
It was two miles back to the camp they had left that 

morning at the "Cotton Gin" and the way lay 
through a marshy cane brake. 

"We will all die," moaned the women. The men 



68 HTSTOEY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

only groaned for they were utterly helpless. Then 
a stout young negro declared that he would go back 
to the camp and get some fire. Of course no one ob- 
jected and the heroic black set out alone. Into the 
dark night the negro plunged ; through the mud and 
water and thick undergrowth he struggled until he 
reached the Cotton Gin. Two hours later the weary 
watchers on the river heard a glad "Halloa." 
Shouts of joy and prayers of thanksgiving burst 
from the desolate crowd. Through the cane brake 
came the loyal servant bearing iii his hand a burn- 
ing torch. Cane was quickly gathered and in a few 
minutes they were all warming their half-frozen 
bodies around a roaring fire. After that night the 
brave negro was regarded as a hero and treated ac- 
cordingly. Just one hundred and twenty days after 
they left their homes in North Carolina, the Mur- 
rels, Malones, Moores, Myricks, Nosworthies, and 
Callers established their families in Alabama. 



LITTLE TEMPEY ELLIS 

Tiny White Girl Rescued by "Old Milly" 

BY the side of the spring, which supplied the In- 
dian village of Auttose with water, a little 
white girl sat weeping bitterly. Suddenly the voice 
of an old squaw calling her name changed the weep- 
ing into frightened haste and the child rushed up 
the hill. At the top of the hill Little Tempey Ellis 
was told by an old squaw that some one wished to 
see her. The visitor was Old Milly, who had heard 
that the Indians held in captivity an eight-year-old 
white girl and that she was being mistreated by the 
old squaw who had her in charge. 

Several weeks Ijefore Old Milly came to the res- 
cue of the child, Tempey Ellis was visiting the Scar- 
lett children on the Georgia frontier. In the midst 
of their play, a band of Indians swooped down upon 
the little home, murdering Mr. and Mrs. Scarlett 
and all of their chiklren. Tempey crawded under the 
bed and lay undiscovered until all of the Indians 
but one had left. The ugly face peered under the 
bed and the child shrieked with terror. He dragged 
her out and lifted his hatchet to kill her, when sud- 
denly the greedy creature decided to keep her and 
make some white person pay a ransom. So away he 
galloped, with Tempey Ellis clinging to the horse's 

69 



;0 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

mane. He took lier to the town on the Tallapoosa 
river where Old ^lilly found her. 

This kind-hearted woman lived alone in what is 
now Montgomery county. If she had any other 
name than Mill3% no one remembers it. Milly was 
no society queen and she may have had her faults, 
but cruelty and cowardice were not among them. 
When she heard that the Indians at Auttose held a 
white child captive, she immediately mounted her 
horse, rounded up a herd of ponies and cattle, and 
sped away to rescue the little girl from the Indians. 
Ten ponies and six cows were what Old ^lilly paid 
for the release of Tempey Ellis. 

You can imagine the child's joy and gratitude 
and you can also imagine the gladness with which 
the lonely woman brought the little girl into her 
home to keep her company during the drear}^ days. 
Milly was good to the little girl and tried in every 
way to make Tempey forget the horrors of her ex- 
perience with the savages. 

After keeping Tempey Ellis for several years. 
Old Milly realized that she ought to be sent back to 
her own people in Georgia. One day the Creek 
agent came along and Tempey was sent in his care 
back to her parents. It was hard for the poor old 
woman to give up her young companion, but with 
all of the unselfishness of which such women are 
capable Milly packed the girl's box of clothes, kissed 
her goodbye and sent her away. 

Several years later, when Tempey Ellis was an 
attractive woman, a young man, Thomas Erizzell, 



LITTLE TEMPEY ELLLS 71 

came into her life and asked permission to remain. 
Tempey said "yes," and they were married. Mr. 
and Mrs. Frizzell lived for years in Pike county, 
and when Tempey Ellis Frizzell Avas an old woman 
she lived near Troy. Her grandchildren still live 
in South Alabama and they tell their children how 
Grandmother Frizzell was bought from the Indians 
for ten ponies and six cows. 



ISAAC HEATON'S DOGS 

Fort Sinquefield in the Creek War 

TEN women stood at their tubs near the spring 
which supplied Fort Sinquefield with water. 
Early that morning they had brought their washing 
to the spring. Now the long September afternoon 
was drawing to a close and they were preparing to 
take their shabby garments back to their homes 
within the fort. 

Probably the women talked in low tones of the 
suffering which Weatherford had brought upon the 
white settlers. Quite probably they repeated the 
stories they had heard of the dreadful Francis who 
was cutting and burning his way through the set- 
tlement in the fork of the Alabama and Tombigbee 
rivers. Then a silence fell upon them, for just out- 
side the fort a funeral procession stopped within 
fifty yards of the fort gate. Not one but twelve 
bodies were hastily buried. The dead were the vic- 
tims of Josiah Francis, "The Projihet." 

While the men were yet shoveling dirt upon the 
new-made graves, Francis, with one hundred war- 
riors, sprang down the hillside toward the group of 
mourners. Men snatched up children in their arms 
and made for the fort. The entire party reached 
the fort and slannned the gate just in time. But 

72 



ISAAC HEATON'S DOGS 73 

what of the women at the spring? Those within 
the fort realized too late that the ten women outside 
were left to the mercy of the savages. 

With wild shrieks of delight, the hundred brutes 
rushed toward the helpless women. But God heard 
the prayer of those women that day and sent aid in 
the last desperate moment. Around a bend in the 
road came Isaac Heaton, with long whip cracking 
in his hand and with a pack of dogs yelping at his 
horse's heels. Heaton had been out cow-hunting 
and was returning to the fort when he saw the 
plight of the women at the spring. With shouts 
to his dogs, the lone rider swooped down upon the 
murderers. 

"Sic him, Plato! Go for him, Juno!" yelled 
Isaac Heaton between his excited whistling and 
cracking of his whip. Those vicious dogs did their 
noble best, for so fiercely did they attack the band 
of Indians that those braves had their hands full 
for a few minutes, warding off the animals. 

"Run! Run!" the man called to the astonished 
women. Together they all fled toward the opened 
gate of the fort. Heaton 's horse was shot down 
and his coat riddled with bullets, but he reached the 
fort uninjured, barely escaping capture by the In- 
dians. From the throats of the white people came a 
mighty cheer. And then came another shout of joy, 
as the wounded horse galloped into the fort right 
behind his master. 



A BRAVE INDIAN 

Talladega Fort Saved by General Jackson 

WRAPPED in his blanket, a big Indian stood 
in the shadow of a tree, looking out into the 
darkness. "It is the only way," he thought. With- 
in the fort at Talladega, white people and friendly 
Indians waited anxiously for the help that would 
not come. Outside the fort, hostile Indians watched 
night and day, lest the prisoners should escape from 
their trap. Weatherford's followers completely sur- 
rounded Fort Lashly and waited patiently until 
the time for the murder of their victims should 
come. 

General Jackson was miles away, encamped on 
the Ten Islands and knew nothing of the danger 
which threatened these people at Talladega. 

When everything grew still, the friendly brave, 
whom you may call "Brave Indian," turned mys- 
teriously into a hog. He threw around himself the 
skin of a large hog which had the head and feet 
still attached. Crawling on his hands and knees 
Brave Indian meandered toward the resting ])lace 
of the enemy. He rooted and grunted around tlie 
sleeping warriors exactly as a hog would do. No one 
noticed him at all. Hogs rooting around a camp 
was a very common occurrence and attracted no at- 
tention whatevei". When he reached a safe distance 

74 



A BRAVE INDIAN 



75 



in the woods Brave Indian threw off his mantle and 
sped like the wind to General Jackson's headquar- 
ters on Ten Islands. 

Two minutes after the General learned of the 
danger which threatened the people at Talladega, 
he was hurrying with his troops to the rescue. By 
midnight his army was fording the Coosa river. Al- 




INDIANS DKCKTVIXG DEER 

though the river at that point was six hundred yards 
wide and had a rocky, uneven bottom, two thousand 
men crossed the stream. Each horseman took a foot 
soldier up behind him and in this w^ay they crossed 
safely and quickly. 

By four o'clock in the morning, Jackson's army 
had surrounded the Indians outside Fort Lashly. 



76 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

Four hours later the firing began. At the close of 
the day dead bodies of savages covered the ground 
for miles around. The grateful white settlers, with 
two hundred friendly Indians, left at once for Fort 
Strother. This time Brave Indian walked away in 
an upright position, like a splendid warrior, at the 
head of his company of Red Men. 



THE CANOE FIGHT 

Sam Dale, Jere Austill and James Smith Stage a Great Night 

SWEET potatoes were roasting in the ashes and a 
huge piece of beef simmered over the red coals, 
while a dozen men sat around the fire and talked in 
low tones. 

On the day before, Sam Dale, Jere Austill, and 
James Smith had set out from Fort Madison with 
a company of volunteers. They had determined to 
punish the Indians for their many outrages against 
the whites and already they had engaged in several 
fights with the savages. Now they had stopped to 
eat and rest. 

Part of the company crossed the Alabama river 
in a large canoe and then the negro Caesar, returned 
in a small boat which would carry only three men. 
All at once the little group around the fire heard a 
loud shout. "Look behind you!" cried their friends 
on the other side of the river. Coming down the hill 
behind the white soldiers was a band of Indians 
sneaking toward the camp. Dale and his men 
sprang up from their hasty meal and made for a 
sand bank behind which they crouched. They fired 
upon the Indians and before long the Indians 
slipped away. 

While waiting for the attack to be renewed, one 
member of the party spied a flat-bottom canoe glid- 

77 



78 HIS'l'OHY STOl^lES OF ALABAMA 

ing down the river. In it eleven stalwart Red Men 
sat erect holding their gnns in front of them. Dale's 
men opened live npon them and the Indians lay flat 
doAvn in the boat. Presently two of the Indians 
jumped into the river. James Smith shot one of 
them through the head. Jere Austin's water-soaked 
leggings slipped down around his feet causing him 
to stumble and fall. The Indian escaped and nine- 
teen-yeai'-old Jere Austill was angry and ashamed. 

Sam Dale yelled to the men on the other side 
to come over with the big canoe. But the sight of 
those bloody savages was too much for the men 
across the river and no help came from them. Dale 
sprang into Caesar's little boat and Smith and Aus- 
till jumped in behind him. Their comrades begged 
to go but there was no room in the small boat for 
another man. On the way out Dale's and Austin's 
guns were wet by the water from Caesar's oar and 
refused to shoot when shooting was most needed. 

All of the Indians knew Sam Dale. They ad- 
mired him for his strength and courage, even though 
he fought against them. As they appi'oached the 
canoe the chief cried out, "Now for it, Big Sam!'' 
*' Paddle up close and place your boat side by side 
with theirs," Caesar was told. The negro was as 
daring as any of the white men and he not only did 
as he was told but he laid hold on the two boats and 
held them together in his powerful grasp. Then the 
three white men used their guns as clubs. Witli all 
of the strength in their strong bodies, they laid on 
the blows. In a surprisingly short time eight In- 



TIIK (.V\NOE FIGHT 79 

dians lay dead in the bottom of the boat; two more 
were at the bottom of the river and Austill was re- 
gretting that he had let one escape. 

The men on both sides of the river were watch- 
ing the fight and every time a Red Man went down, 
the onlookers cheered londly. As the three men, 
Dale, Austill and Smith, landed on the west bank 
of the Alabj<ma the woods rang with the shouts of 
their companions. 

Since that time several generations of Alabama 
people have told their children how three brave 
men overcame eleven big Indians in a canoe fight, 
out in the middle of the river, with no weapons ex- 
cept guns that would not shoot. 



M 



KINDNESS THAT CAME BACK 

The Fort Mims Massacre 

RS. ZACHARIAH McGIRTH opened her 
cabin door one morning to find a strange lit- 
tle bundle of rags waiting outside in the cold. In- 
side the bundle of rags was the sturdy figure of a 
little Indian boy. His name was Sanota— that was 
all, just Sanota. He Avas fatherless, motherless, 
friendless and he was hungry. That was enough 
for Vicey McGirth to know about him, and she 
opened her arms and her heart to the wee stranger. 
"Come into the house, you poor little thing," cried 
the kind-hearted woman, who already had a house 
full of her own children. The little fellow was 
taken into the cabin where he was warmed, fed, and 
all dressed up in some of the McGirth children's 
clothes. 

For years Sanota lived with the white family 
and was treated just as the eight young McGirths 
were treated. At last he grew into a stalwart young 
Indian and naturally drifted back into the ways of 
his own people. Then came Tecumseh into the 
country of the Alabama Creeks, preaching destruc- 
tion of the whites and filling the Indians' minds 
with all sorts of foolish superstitions. Sanota heard 
all about Tecumseh 's power and he probably be- 
lieved the tales Tecumseh 's followers told. They 

so 



KINDNESS THAT CAME BACK 81 

said for one thing, that Tecumseh could shake the 
whole earth just by stamping his foot and they of- 
fered proof of their statement. 

But the truth of the matter was this: The Big 
Warrior was an intelligent, peaceful Indian chief 
and a friend of the white people. He refused to 
join in the attacks against his white -friends, or to 
believe Tecumseh 's false teaching. One day Tecum- 
seh pointed his finger at The Big Warrior, saying, 
"You do not believe that the Great Spirit has sent 
me. You shall believe it. I will leave directly and 
go straight to Detroit. When I get there I will 
stamp my foot and shake down every house in 
Tookabatcha." The common Indians firmly be- 
lieved what Tecumseh said and began counting off 
the days until the prophet should reach Detroit, on 
Lake Michigan. 

One day a mighty rumbling shook the earth. The 
houses in the village reeled and rocked. The people 
ran out shouting, "Tecumseh has reached Detroit. 
We feel the shake of his foot!" An earthquake had 
really occurred just about the right time to suit 
Tecumseh. After that demonstration of his power, 
a wild wave of superstition swept over the Indian 
villages. The smart prophets who were working to 
cause an uprising among the whites, continued to 
fill the savage minds with inagic and mysteries and 
their hearts with hatred of the white settlers. 

At last the attack upon Fort Minis was planned. 
Sanota was one of the thousand painted warriors 
who lay concealed in the woods outside of the fort. 



83 HISTORY STORIES OF Ai.ABAMA 

one August day in the year 1813, while the Avonian 
who had mothered him was inside the fort prepar- 
ing dinner for her family. During that morning a 
hundred or more children ran from tent to tent with- 
in the fort. The girls and young men danced and 
sang. Some of the older men played cards and a 
general air of carelessness showed everywhere. 

At noon the drum-beat announced dinner and 
the soldiers began gathering around the tables. The 
gate to the fort was open, as usual, for so careless 
had the commander become that a bank of sand had 
been allowed to form in front of the big gate. At 
the critical moment the gate would not close. With 
wild yells the Indians arose from the ground out- 
side and surged into the unprotected fort. The 
massacre at Fort Mims that followed is a thing that 
is better forgotten. 

Late that evening, Zachariah McGirth crept back 
to the fort and searched desperately for the bodies 
of his wife and children. In the. morning he hnd 
started up the river to his plantation near Clai])orn(^ 
for provisions. But the firing at the fort turned 
him back. When he came near the fort and saw 
the horde of savages rushing ui)on the helpless in- 
mat(\s he realized that it was utterly impossible for 
him to reach there alive. All the afternoon he 
waited in the woods, in an agony of grief, while the 
battle raged at Fort Minis. 

After that day McGirth became the most des- 
perate fighter. He rushed into dangers that made 
otlier men treml)le. He never hesitated at anvthiug 



KIXDXKSS TlfAT CA:\IE BACK 



83 



that would bring destruction upon the Indians. But 
his Avife and daughters liad not l)een nuirdered as he 
supposed. The son was killed l)ut the women were 
saved. 

Sanota did his share of that butchery at Fort 
Minis, but when he came upon his foster mother 
and her seven daughters crouched in a corner of the 




INDIANS SETTING FIRE TO AN ENEMY VILLAGE 

fort ])ity and gratitude tilled his heart. He threw 
his big body between them and the other Indians 
and defended the women at the risk of his own life. 
After the battle w^as over, he pretended that he was 
carrying the women off as his slaves. The next day< 
he took them to his home in the woods on the Coosa 
river where he cared for them as though the}^ were 
reallv his mother and sisters. 



84 HISTORY STOEIES OF ALABAMA 

Some time later, he told Mrs. McGirth that he 
was going away to fight Jackson, at the Horse Shoe, 
and that if he should be killed, she had better go to 
her friends down the river. Sanota was killed at 
Horse Shoe Bend and again the family of McGirths 
was left without a protector. 

They set out for their deserted farm near Clai- 
borne on the Alabama river. They were wandei'ing 
miserably through the woods when an army officer 
found them. Because he was going to Mobile he 
suggested that they too go along, as it was safer 
there than in the forest. 

Zachariah McGirth had drifted into Mobile sev- 
eral weeks before his family arrived there. A friend 
of his saw the pitiful group on the wharf and recog- 
nized them as McGirth 's family. He hastened to 
find the father and told him that some one wished to 
see him down at the river landing. AA^hen McGirth 
saw the wretched woman and seven ragged girls he 
trembled so he could hardly stand. "My wife and 
my daughters!" he exclaimed. ''Where is the 
boy?" he asked fearfully. The absence of the boy, 
who was killed at Fort Mims, was all that marred 
the happiness of the reunited family, who had ])een 
kind to a poor little Indian waif long before the 
massacre at Fort Mims. 



I 



THE RED EAGLE 

A Reproduction of Alexander Meek's Poem of the Creek War 

SINGING and swinging in the vines, Lilla Beazely 
watched the sun as it sank out of sight behind 
Fort Minis. But the beautiful girl sang on with 
never a thought of the danger lurking in the forest. 
For Lilla Beazely was in love. Her happy day- 
dreams of a mighty young chieftain dispelled every 
suggestion of gloom. 

When the first little star showed itself in the 
heavens this ''Woodland Flower" started on her 
way back to the fort. As she turned into the path 
she saw an Indian warrior, tall and straight. A red 
plume waved above his head; his tasseled hunting- 
shirt was green; red leggings and deer skin shoes 
he wore, while in his wampum belt he carried a 
scali^iug knife and a gleaming tomahawk. 

The maiden starts as if to fly, 
But gazes back witli curious eye, 
Then utters forth a joyous cry. 

The warrior was her own beloved chieftain, Wil- 
liam Weatherford. 

"Why do you linger at this dangerous hour out- 
side the fort?" he chided. "Do you not know that 
the Red Men far and near are preparing to drive 
the white men back to the sea?" Then Red Eagle 

85 



86 HLSTOKY STOEIES OF ALABAMA 

continued, "It has been only a few weeks since our 
noble youths were murdered at Burnt Corn. You 
must know that the Indian's law is blood for blood. 
Even now our warriors are gathering around Fort 
Mims. ' ' 

Then Lilla Beazely answered, "I know full well 
that the Red Man is my father's foe. But surely 
my mother's child will be safe from Indian treach- 
ery. The best blood of Indian line flows in my 
veins. It was my mother's grandsires who gave to 
your tribe this dwelling place. Besides, I thought, 
and so does my father think, that the Eagle Chief 
had ceased his fighting and that we were soon to 
have peace again." 

Weatherford told her that peace was impossible 
until the White Wolf had paid with his own life for 
the lives of the Indian braves lost at Burnt Corn. 
He begged the girl to fly with him to the Holy 
Ground where she would ])e safe from the destruc- 
tion that was so soon to come upon Fort Mims. 
Weatherford reminded her that the Holy Ground 
had never been entered by a ])ale-face because a 
white man would die instantly, he said, if he should 
set foot thereon. Weatherford also stated that the 
prophets prayed there continually for the safety of 
the Indians and the death of the white man and 
there the squaws with their papooses were gathered. 
Red Eagle ended by saying, 

Tlion. Lilln. hid tlusc sconos farewoll 
And (luicklv seek (Uir sai rrd dell. 



THE 1U^:D P]AGLE 87 

"No, Weatlierford, no!" The girl answered furi- 
ously. "Lilla Beazely will never many the man 
whose hand is red with her father's ])lo()d. Then 
faltering she added, "Though I loTe thee, and though 
I pledged thee lU}- faith, I'll stay by my father 
through slaughter and famine and fire." With a 
return to her first anger she cried suddenly, "Go! 
And remember if this blow falls upon my father, I 
am forever your foe." Into the woods she sprang 
and, ran swiftly toward the fort. Weatlierford 
started after her but the report of a rifle rang out 
and a bullet whizzed l)y his head. Lilla Beazely 's 
father, "The White Wolf", hiding close by in the 
woods, came very near ending Red Eagle's life then 
and there. 

Old Beazely was a skilled hunstman and a fearless 
fighter who was said to love nothing on earth except 
his motherless daughter. An anxious crowd met him 
at the fort asking if he had seen anything of the 
enemy. But he only growled curses upon his luckless 
aim and went to find his grief-stricken daughter. In 
their little corner of the fort he found Lilla. "Death 
to the dog! Don't cry your sweet eyes out", was all 
that he said to her. He had been willing for Lilla to 
marry Weatlierford and he had felt some pride in 
the fact that so noble a chieftain had sought his 
daughter's hand in marriage. But that was before 
this war cloud loomed, and now hatred for Red Eagle 
filled the White Wolf's heart. 

Five hundred souls waited in fear that night for 
the attack upon Fort Mims. But when the sun ap- 



88 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

peared next morning and there was still no foe in 
sight the reckless commander laughed to scorn Old 
Beazely's- warning and boldly ordered that the gate 
be left open as usual. About noon there came a fear- 
ful cry, "To arms! To arms!" The savage horde 
outside the fort rushed upon the helpless victims 
within and it was then too late to close the gate. A 
pitiful handful of people escaped the fire and murder 
of the Fort Minis Massacre. Lilla Beazely was one 
of them. 

Weatherford took the wounded girl to his home 
in the forest and kept her there a prisoner for days 
and days. They both believed that her father had 
been slain. The White Wolf, believing that his 
daughter had perished, fled across the country to 
other settlements. *' Revenge!" he cried as he swept 
through the forests of the South. It was the White 
Wolf who guided Jackson's men as they came 
through the South to i3ut an end to Indian outrages. 
Always ready with the torch, quick to shoot and sure 
to kill was Old Beazely. 

While her father was arousing the white settlers 
to avenge his daughter's death, the girl was pining 
her days away in a wigwam at the Holy (Jround. 
All of Weatherford 's efforts to regain her affections 
were met with scorn from the girl. "Vile Chieftain, 
away— begone from my sight!" was all the encour- 
agement the mighty chief gained for his pleadings. 
In vain he told her that it was not he who slew her 
father. 



THE KEl) EAGLE 89 

I charged my warriors, one and all, 

That safe from knife and club and ball. 

They should preserve the White Wolf's form. 

But Dearest, in the battle's storm, 

Amid the wild tumultuous fight. 

Though harmless from our rifle's aim. 

He vanished from my watchful sight. 

And must have perished in the flames. 

This the Red Eagle told Lilla Beazely and much else 
besides, but she only answered, '^Away!" 

One night the half-crazed girl stole into the sleep- 
ing warrior's presence, slipped his knife from his 
belt and whispering, "It must be done", she lifted the 
knife to kill him. Red Eagle awoke and calmly took 
the knife from her hand saying, "Thou truly art fit 
for the Eagle's bride." 

Not long thereafter the signal bell rang in the 
council house and Red Eagle strode through the Hol}^ 
Grround toward the warriors' meeting place. Gaily 
bedecked and ready for war the Indians were sitting 
around drinking the Blackwater. Weatherford took 
his seat then called for his spies to report. The chief 
was told that Claiborne's men were camped near the 
Holy Ground and were preparing to attack. 

The impudence of a white man daring to set foot 
on the Holy Ground filled them all with wonder. For 
they really believed that the Holy Ground was the 
Indian's refuge and the white man's grave. They 
had been taught to believe that if a bullet should 
strike an Indian while he was standing on this sacred 
ground that the bullet would split in two and fall 



90 HISTOJn' STOhMKS OF alaba:\[a 

harmless to the earth, while any white man who 
stepped on the Holy Ground would die instantly. So 
now they boasted proudly of the destruction that was 
soon to come upon the foolish white men. 

Weatherford knew that the Holy Ground was no 
safer than any other place. He very carefully sent 
the women and children away charging the women 
to take care of his own "Wild Flower," liilla Beaz- 
ely. 

Claiborne's men swept into the Holy Ground and, 
with their guns, shot down the poor deceived Indians 
by the hundred. In a few hours, ''The White Plan's 
Grave" was covered with the dead bodies of Indians. 
A few painted warriors fled into the forest. Weath- 
erford, finding himself alone, rode swiftly down the 
liver l)ank, while his excited foes sprang after him. 
In front of Weatherford was the river bank, which 
stood high above the water below. Behind him came 
his infuriated enemies. Weatherford gave one 
glance backward, fired his gun at the foremost rider, 
who toppled over. AVithout hesitating a second the 
Red Eagle plunged his horse over the high bank into 
the water beneath. Down, down, steed and rider 
went ! But they soon re-appeared upon the opposite 
shore. Weatherford gave one loud l)attle scream and 
vanished into the Avoods. 

During the following days Jackson's army 
niarhed through the Southland carrying death and 
destruction to the Indians everywhere. Among the 
many battles the one at Horse Shoe Bend stands out 
in Alabama historv. There it was that bi'ave Lenniel 



THE liED EAGLE 01 

P. Montgomery gave his life leading a campaign 
against the foe. At last, the heaten, broken Red Men 
lay down their aims at Jackson's feet. "To each and 
all shall mercy be," said Jackson, "to all save one — 
jjroud A¥eatherf ord. ' ' 

By General Jackson's side stood a stern-faced, 
gray-haired man, Lilla Beazely's father. Down near 
the hiding place of the women and children Lilla 
Beazely and William Weatherford lingered by the 
side of a spring and renewed their vows. The girl 
spoke softly to her lover, 

Oh, yes, my father lives, 
His daugliter every grief forgives, 
Oh, yes ! I lieard his voice last night, 
Eiiig down the glen above the fight. 

Then Weatherford told her again of his love. But 
sorrow also, he bi'onght to her heart, by telling her 
of the doom that awaited him. "I must either die 
myself or let the women and children starve," he said. 

He left her shortly, going straight to General 
Jackson's camp. Without the least fear Red Eagle 
stalked into the presence of the general while sol- 
diers shouted, "Kill him! Kill him!" To Jackson 
Weatherford said, "I have nothing to request in my 
own Ijehalf. You can kill me if you so desire. But 
1 come to beg you to send for the women and children 
of the war party who aie starving in the woods." 

Jackson was so touched by the Indian's bravery 
that he answered, "Go, Chieftain. Thou shalt live." 
But the AYhite Wolf had something to say about 
that. 



92 



HISTOEY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

No. by my soul, the dog shall die. 
And go the way his yictiins Avent. 
Hold not my gun — my (ieneral, No I 
My ball shall lay the murderer low. 




Courtesy of W. T. Slicoliaii and (Ico. X. liiiyzi-r 

st'i;i;i:Ni)i;i; ok \\i;a'i ii i'.ki'oki) to (ii;M:i!Ai> jacksox 



For an instant Red Eaglo regarded the speaker 
then lie said calmly, "Thy daughter is not dead, 
White Wolf." As he spoke the curtains parted and 
Lilla l>eaze]y glided into her father's arms "with a 
cry of Joy all unreprest." 



NANNAWYAH 

Indians are Warned of their Removal to the West 

NANNAWYAH was neither a fat little papoose 
nor a l^eantiful Indian maiden. Nannawyah 
was a large mound which in the Indian language 
means "Hill Mother." The ignorant Choctaws be- 
lieved that their ancestors had sprung like bees from 
this mound and peopled the country all around. 
They treated their "Mother" with great respect, for 
they thought that she watched over her children con- 
stantly. When they were hunting near the mound, 
the Choctaws always threw into the crater the leg of 
a deer or some other meat. They believed they were 
feeding their "Hill Mother." 

Nannaw^^ah was situated on a hill between St. 
Stephens and Jackson, Mississippi. It was a cone- 
shaped hill about forty feet high, the base of which 
covered two acres of ground. Around the base a 
ditch was dug. 

One day the United States Government agent, 
George Strother Gaines, i-ode up to the top of the 
hill and looked in. While he was examining the 
mound a party of warriors rode by. Mr. Gaines, 
seeing the Indians, joined them' on the road. 

"Well Mr. Gaines", said Chief Pushmataha, "I 
suppose you have been to pay our mother a visit. 
And what did she say to you?" The old chief knew 

93 



94 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

perfectly well that the Choctaws were mistaken about 
their ''Hill Mother," and he smiled knowingly as he 
asked the question. Mr. Gaines answered rather seri- 
ously, "Your mother said that her children have 
become so numei'ous and so poor that they had better 
sell their lands to the United States and move west 
of tlie Mississii3pi river to bigger and better hunting 
grounds." Pushmataha threw back his head and 
laughed long and loud, crying, "Holauba! Holauba! 
Feenah!" In Indian language, this meant that not 
a word of it was so. But whether Nannawyah said 
that her children must move West or not, that is 
exactly what the poor Indians did a short time 
afterwards. 



THE STRANGER WITHIN OUR GATES 

Aaron Burr's Capture 

ONE cold February night, in the 3^ear 1807, 
Nicholas Perkins and Thomas Malone were 
playing a game of backgammon in their cabin. Here 
the two young men lived t(^gether, in the little town 
of Wakefield, AVashington county, Alabama. The 
sound of horses' hoofs on the hard ground outside 
sent the young men rushing to the door to see who 
was coming on that dark, cold night. "Can you di- 
rect me to Colonel Hinson's home?" one of the 
horsemen inquired. 

The information was given ; the courtly stranger 
thanked the young men and with his companion rode 
away. The spokesman wore the cheap coarse pan- 
taloons which woodmen wore at that time, but the 
shapely boots protruding beneath the ugly trousers 
told a little story all their own. And no disguise 
could hide the splendid bearing and the cultured 
voice of the man who had inquired the way. The 
light from the bright fire in the cabin streamed 
across the horsemen outside and it was easy to see 
that the princely wayfarer was no backwoodsman. 
"That is Aaron Burr," cried Nicholas Perkins, 
"Let us follow him." Perkins had heard that 
Aaron Burr was somewhere in Alabama and that 
the government was offering a reward for his cap- 

95 



96 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

ture. ''Man, you are foolish," replied Malone. "It 
is too late and too cold to start on such a ride when 
you have no evidence against the stranger." 

But Nicholas had the instincts of a detective and 
he refused to listen to his comrade's reasoi;iing. So 
he set out alone to find the sheriff and tell him that 
Burr was in the neighborhood. Sheriff Brightwell 
arose, dressed, and soon joined Nicholas Perkins in 
his night ride. Just as the sheriff and Perkins were 
starting on their trip through the darkness, Aaron 
Burr and his companion arrived at the Hinson 
house. 

Mrs. Hinson saw them through her little window 
but her husband was away from home and she was 
afraid to answer their knocks. A cheerful fire 
burning in the kitchen was more than the riders 
could resist, so without an invitation to enter, the 
two men went in to the warmth and comfort of 
the room. Mrs. Hinson remained in frightened si- 
lence for more than an hour ; then she heard Briglit- 
well's voice. He was a kinsman of hers and she wel- 
comed his arrival at that particular time. 

Nicholas Perkins was very much excited. ''I 
will stay outside while you go in," he told the 
sheriff. Aaron Burr saw me in my doorway and he 
might recognize me at once." But the young fellow 
was poorly paid for his long wait in the cold. 
Sheriff Brightwell went in and Mrs. Hinson came 
down to the kitchen and quickly prepared a tempt- 
ing supper for the three men. The Gentleman Ad- 
venturer treated his hostess as though she wei'e a 



THE STKANGER WrTHIN OUE GATES 97 

queen. He also made himself so agreeable and en- 
tertaining to the sherifit* that the officer forgot his 
duty and left Perkins shivering in the cold outside. 

After a lengthy vigil Perkins went away in dis- 
gust and sought some one else to help him capture 
Aaron Burr. The next morning Captain Edward 
Gaines at the head of a mounted company of sol- 
diers rode with Nicholas Perkins toward the Hin- 
son house. On the way they met the charming stran- 
ger with his companion of the night before and 
Sheriff Brightwell. Aaron Burr, having completely 
won the friendship of the sheriff, was now making 
use of his good fortune and hoped to escape before 
less friendly officers found him. Sheriff Brightwell 
was befriending the friendless stranger but he was 
not the first nor the last man who was won over by 
Aaron Burr's pleasing manner and intelligent con- 
versation. 

Of course you would like to know why the United 
States government wanted Aaron Burr arrested. It 
was not because Burr killed Alexander Hamilton in 
a duel. Although Burr had committed that crime 
and a great many people hated him for the murdcu- 
of the popular young man. 

It was because Burr was accused of treason. It 
was said that Aaron Burr was trying to form an in- 
dependent government in the southwest with himself 
as the head of the new government. Burr declared 
that he was only trying to drive the Spaniards out 
of the country and that he had no intention of be- 
coming a traitor to the United States. 



98 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

Nevertheless a description of the alleged traitor 
had been sent broadcast over the country and every 
officer in every little town was on the lookout for the 
ex-vice-president of the United States. And so it 
came about that Aaron Burr w^as captured in Ala- 
bama. Captain Edward Gaines with the help of 
Nicholas Perkins made the arrest. His captors car- 
ried Burr to Richmond, Virginia, for trial. They 
went all the way from Washington count^y, Ala- 
bama, to Richmond, Virginia, on horseback. Burr's 
trial was one of the greatest sensations of the year, 
but in the end the court said, "Not guilty," and 
Aaron Burr w^as acquitted. 

On a lonely road in Washington county, near old 
Fort Stoddart, travelers often stop to examine the 
spot wdiere Nicholas Perkins and Edward Gaines 
captured Aaron Burr. 



THE YAZOO FRAUD 

Early Settlers Come into Alabama 

IN the streets of Louisville a great crowd of 
Georgians were gathered. The governor of that 
territory with all of the high officials were ex- 
pressing their indignation over the "Yazoo Fraud" 
in a very fiery manner. The bills which had been 
passed by the lawmakers permitting the sale of 
certain Georgia lands were consumed by "fire from 
Heaven."' This was managed by holding a sun glass 
over the paper on which the undesirable laws w^ei'e 
written until the heat from the sun set fire to the 
paper. The paper was burned by "the fire from 
Heaven" and the great men felt that the Yazoo Sale 
had been wiped out forever. 

This is really what had happened. The people of 
Georgia believed that the.y owned all of the land 
which the King of England had granted to Ogle- 
thorpe. That grant included the territory between 
the Savannah and Altamaha rivers and as far west 
as the Mississippi. A former set of officials de- 
cided that it would be good business to sell some 
of that land and put the money into the Georgia 
treasury. So they did. 

Four different companies bought these Georgia 
lands and altogether they paid $500,000 for twenty- 

99 



100 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

one million acres. What was known as tlie Georgia 
Company bought a vast tract of land in the present 
states of Alabama and Mississippi. They paid one- 
fifth of the price down and the balance was to be 
|)aid later. But they really bought the land for 
$250,000 and thought it was theirs. Then they be- 
gan leasing portions of it to settlers who flocked in 
from other states. Some of the best people who 
eyer came to Alabama were among the pioneers 
whom the Georgia Company brought here. 

But while Georgia was selling this land with 
such gusto the United States goyernment was grow- 
ing excited about it. Washington was not so sure 
that Georgia owned all of that land. Spain also 
claimed part of it and tried to stop the arrangement. 
Among the Georgians themselyes there was much 
suspicion and quarreling. Many claimed that dis- 
honest deeds had been committed by the politicians 
and altogether there was an inglorious wrangle. 

In the midst of the excitement another governor 
came into office and a new set of officials took their 
seats in the offices of state. Then they said among 
themselves, "This Yazoo sale is a disgrace, and we 
will at once undo the mischief tliat has been done." 
And that is why fire was called down l\y way of a 
sun-glass to consume the wicked document. 

After so long a time the settlers sto]i]ied talking 
about cheats and frauds and began ])uil(ling schools 
and churches as well as homes. They cleared the 
lands and planted crops and gradually settlements 
sprang up where there had been only wild forests 



THE YAZOO FRAUD 101 

and deserted prairies. Thus came into Alabama 
many of the early settlers. Some of them may have 
l)een your great, great grandparents whose blood 
flows in your own veins and whose courage and in- 
dustry you are due to have inherited. 



THE ONE-MAN SENATE 

Alabama Becomes a Territory, Then a State J 

ON the first day of March, 1817, Congress divided I 
Mississippi Territory, and two days later or- * 
ganized Alabama Territory. St. Stephens was se- 
lected as the seat of government. President Mon- 
roe appointed William Wyatt Bibb as Territorial 
governor. The governor called the first Legislature 
to meet at St. Stephens. 

With as much dignity as though the hall were 
filled with stern senators James Titus sat alone in 
Legislative Council and decided upon questions 
Avliich arose in that first Alabama Legislature. 

Alabama was not a state in 1818 but the line 
had been drawn between Mississippi and Alabama 
Territory. In making the division the government 
decreed that all of the Legislators from Alabama 
who were members of the Mississippi Legislature 
should make up the new Legislature for Alabama. 
There were eleven representatives but James Titus 
happened to be the only member of the Legislative 
Council (Senate) who lived on the Alabama side of 
the line. So when the first Territorial Legislature 
of Alabama met at St. Stephens in 1818 one man 
was the speaker, the Chairman of all the commit- 
tees and, in fact, the whole Council. 

102 



THE OXK-:\!AX SENATE 103 

At the next meeting of the Legislature at St. 
Stephens, a connnittee was appointed to select a 
capital. They selected Cahaba, but agreed that 
Huntsville should be the capital until suitable build- 
ings were erected at Cahaba. 

As soon as the Alabama Territory was formed, 
innnigrants from Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, and 
the Carolinas rushed into the new territory to set- 
tle on the rich lands. In less than two years, there 
were enough people to enable Alabama to be ad- 
mitted into the Union as a State. Alabama was 
settled more rapidly and passed from a territory 
into a state more quickly than any other state. 

William Wyatt Bibb was also the first governor 
of the state of Alabama. During his administration 
he rode out into the woods one day and while riding 
he was thrown from his horse and killed. His 
brother, Thomas Bibb, finished the term as governor. 

It is a fact worth remembering that the first 
governor of Alabama, in his message to the Legis- 
lature, in 1819, recommended the very things that 
Alabamians are still trying to i)romote— education, 
l)uilding of roads, and bridges, and the upbuilding 
of industries in the state. 



THE VINE AND OLIVE COMPANY 

French Refugees Settle Demopolis 

LATE one afternoon in the month of May, 1818, 
a boat was seen nearing Mobile Point. At that 
time, the arrival of a boat was an important event 
and a number of people gathered to watch her come 
in. The vessel had come all the way from Phila- 
delphia and the passengers stood on deck, gazing 
eagerly toward the point where they expected to 
land. But the pilot, following a worthless old chart, 
was not steering the boat in the safe course toward 
the landing, but was approaching a rocky part of 
the shore which meant destruction to the vessel. 
Lieutenant Beal, who stood on shore, fired a gun to 
warn the sailors against the peril which the rocky 
coast offered. A strong wind began to blow and as 
night came on the wind rose higher and higher until 
it Avas bloAving a gale. The little boat was tossed 
about and finally thrown against the breakers whei'c 
she struck. 

Then Lieutenant Beal with Captain Bourke and 
four other brave men junij)ed into a boat and set 
out across a stormy sea to help the pass(»ngers in 
their distress. After a fierce l)attle against the wind 
[111(1 waves the boatmen reached the stranded shi|). 
About one o'clock the wind went down and the worst 
of the danger was o\'er. The women and children 

101 



THE Yl^F. AND OLIVE COMPANY 105 

were crowded into the little boat and taken ashore. 
The men clung to the schooner until the waves 
washed her into deeper water where she could float. 
In a few hours all the passengers were in Mobile 
where they were made comfortable. In fact the peo- 
ple of Mobile showered attention and kindness upon 
these French refugees who had come into that port 
on their wa}^ to a settlement in Alabama. 

These French people had come to America look- 
ing for homes. After Napoleon was defeated and 
sent to the island of St. Helena the followers of the 
great general were driven from France. Many of 
them fled to America and stayed in Philadelphia for 
a while. Then one of their number went to Wash- 
ington and secured for his friends the privilege of 
settling "somewhere in the West." A grant of land 
in Alabama was made to these immigrants and a 
boat load of them left for Alabama soil. 

A number of the men and all of the women and 
children were left in Mobile while the leaders set 
out for St. Stephens on the Tombigbee river. After 
the Frenchmen landed at St. Stephens they sent the 
boats back to their owners in Mobile and the pio- 
neers began exploring the country around for a 
suitable place to settle. They decided upon White 
Bluff near the present town of Demopolis. 

Boats continued to bring colonists up from Mo- 
bile and the work of clearing land and building 
houses went merrily on. Distinguished soldiers and 
queenly women forgot Paris luxuries and tried to 
become common laborers in a wild, new country. 



lot; HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

Had it not been sad it would have been funny to 
see women in bedrabbled silk dresses and soiled 
satin slippers dropping corn or hanging out clothes. 

Colonel Nicholas Raoul, one of Napoleon's dis- 
tinguished officers, was among the French refugees 
in Marengo county. Colonel Raoul was not a suc- 
cessful farmer and in order to earn a living he 
ferried passengers across French creek, three miles 
from Demopolis. His wife, a l)eautiful and accom- 
plished French woman, made ginger cakes with her 
own royal hands and sold them from a basket to 
passersby who fancied the taste of ginger cakes. 

Another French officer who came to Alabama 
was Count Bertrand Clausel who grew vegetables 
down near Mobile Bay and sold them. He drove the 
cart to market himself and set an example of thrift 
which other refugees might have followed to good 
advantage. To be i^erfectly frank those French 
ladies and gentlemen were not successful as pioneer 
home makers, but they at least kept smiling. The 
few precious books, guitars and finery brought from 
France were treasured most carefully. In the even- 
ings the settlers gathered in one of the cabins, where 
they danced, sang and talked in their best French 
style. Occasionally, boxes of luxuries arrived from 
their friends in France. They indeed made merry 
while the good things lasted. 

The government had agreed to sell the French 
colonists one hundred and forty- four square miles 
of land at two dollars per acre, the purchasers being 
allowed fourteen years in which to pay for their 



THE VINE AXl) OLIVE COIMPANY 107 

farms. The "Vine and Olive Company" was the 
name given to the colon}^ because the Frenchmen 
agreed to raise grapes and olives such as were grown 
in France. Grapes and olives were planted, but 
they did not grow well in this soil and climate. 
After plots had been cleared, houses built and crops 
planted a dreadful thing happened to the colonists. 
New settlers began to arrive with government titles 
to the very lands on which the first French refugees 
had settled. 

The Association in Philadelphia that had tlie 
colony in charge knew nothing whatever about the 
lands in Alabama. Nevertheless, they proceeded to 
divide the land grants according to their own ideas. 
They ignored the fact that settlements had already 
been made on some of the tracts along the Tombig- 
bee river. The first settlers were struggling bravely 
to establish themselves in their new homes when in 
came other people who declared that the Associa- 
tion at Philadelphia had given them the very land 
which the first immigrants had cleared. 

There seemed to be no way out of the confusion 
except for the first settlers to move and leave the 
plots they had begun to cultivate for the newcomers. 
This was done and in the course of time new lands 
were cleared and new homes built. A little town 
sprang up which was called "Demopolis, The City 
of the People." In later years the county was 
named Marengo in memory of a great French battle. 
Several years after the settlement was formed Na- 
poleon's followers were allowed to return to France 



108 HISTORY STOEIES OF ALABAMA 

and some of the settlers at Demopolis went back to 
their homes across the sea. However, many of 
France's noble sons and accomplished daughters re- 
mained in the "City of the People." 

If they had known anything about the fine alfalfa 
hay, the big food crops and the splendid livestock 
that are now a source of wealth to the people of that 
section they could have avoided the financial trou- 
bles which so beset those early settlers. But no one 
was so wise in that time and many hardships which 
now seem unnecessary to the planters in that rich 
country came upon the people of the "Vine and 
Olive Company." 



THE MAN WHO COULD MAKE 
COW-BELLS 

St. Stephen's Prosperous Days 

4 YOUNG MAN, John Gliclden, who could make 
t\. cow-bells, came to St. Stephens in the early 
daj^s of that place and was for a time the wonder of 
that town. Several months before he arrived at St. 
Stephens he ran away from his home in England. 
He landed at Mobile and soon thereafter set out up 
the river in a canoe. When Glidden first came to 
St. Stephens the people of the little town were using 
wooden hinges for doors and gates and wooden pegs 
for nails. He was probably too polite to laugh at 
the crude methods of the settlers, but he straight- 
way pulled off his coat, set up a blacksmith shop 
and proceeded to supply the country around with 
nails and hinges. 

Not very long afterwards, John Glidden was 
placed in charge of a government shop at St. Ste- 
phens. Then indeed he made the countrymen open 
their eyes. Plows, hoes, shovels, tongs, dog-irons, 
pot-racks, and all of the iron parts needed in mak- 
ing houses or wagons were made in Glidden 's shop. 
But the most wonderful things this young black- 
smith turned out was a hollow, cup-shaped instru- 
ment made of a kind of bronze. It had a clapper 
which swung from the top and struck the sides of 

109 



110 HTSTOTJY STOKIES OF ALABA^EA 

the metal cup with a pleasant sound. Of course 
you know that this was a hell. To be exact it was a 
cow-bell. The settlers' ''Old Reds/' "White Faces" 
and "Bossies" could not hide in the woods after 
that, for the tinkle of the bells told the boys where 
to find the cows in the evenings. For two years set- 
tlers living within a hundred miles of John Olid- 
den's shop brought their mules and horses there to 
be shod and ordered tools and iron pieces from the 
young Englishman. 

Until Andrew Jackson came from Tennessee to 
settle Indian troubles, this blacksmith, like (^thei' 
pioneers, worked by day and slept with his gun in 
his hand at night. When Jackson came he joined 
him in his fierce attacks upon Red Eagle's warriors 
and finally saw the savages subdued. Then ])ack to 
St. Stephens came John Glidden with others Avho 
had lived through the Creek War. 

At the time Alabama was cut off fi'om the Mis- 
sissippi territory and changed into tlte Territory of 
Alabama, St. Stephens was known as the most pros- 
perous town in the whole country. She was ten 
years old in 1817 and Avas rather proud of her his- 
tory. The first steamboat company in Alabama car- 
ried on a river trade from St. Stephens. 

The first school of any importance was the St. 
Ste])hens Academy. Log cabin schoolhouses, poorly 
equipix'd and miles apart, were the only kind known 
in Alabama up to that time. St. Stephens was the 
first and only capital of the Alabama Territory. 
There the Territorial Tjegislature met. 



THE MAN WHO COULD MAKE COW-BELLS 111 

, But for all of her prosperity, St. Stephens was 
doomed. The malaria of the river country made 
living there dangerous. And so the settlers had to 
move down to Mobile. John Glidden was one of the 
first to go. He set up his shop right where the 
Battle House has stood for years. He made the 
iron parts for steamboats that plowed the Alabama 
and Tombigbee rivers. He bought one slave and 
taught him to be a blacksmith. Later he bought 
other slaves and trained them in his own iron works. 
Gradually he bought up land and slaves until he 
became a rich man. 

John Glidden succeeded because he knew how to 
supply what his neighbors needed, and because he 
gave his time, thought, and efforts to making the 
very best articles that could be made in that day. 
Whether he made cow-bells or the iron parts of 
ships, he made good ones. 



JOHN HUNT'S TOWN 

The Founding of Huntsville 

WITH a gun, an axo and a knapsack of provi- 
sions for each, John Hunt and his compan- 
ion, David Bean, made their way into what is now 
Madison county, Alabama. Indian traders had told 
these Tennessee men of a big spring surrounded l)y 
rich lands somewhere south of the Tennessee hills. 

John Hunt and David Bean had left their fam- 
ilies behind and started out to find this rich un- 
settled country. For weeks they trudged through 
valleys and over hills until at last they came to a 
settler's cabin in North Alabama. Isaac Criner 
was glad to see other white men come to the wild 
region where he had made his home. He told them 
how to find the Big Spring and doubtless wished 
them luck. AVith the help of his companion John 
Hunt built his cabin on the bluff above the Big 
Spring in the year 1804. That cabin was the first 
house ])uilt by a white man in Huntsville. The 
spring and town are both named in honor of Hunt. 
David Bean cleared ground and built his huml)le 
home several miles away on a creek which is still 
called Bean's creek. 

The next year, John Hunt returned to Tennes- 
see for his wife and children. The news he carried 
back home of the rich lands and the abundance of 

112 



JOHN HUNT'S TOWN 113 

game brought other settlers into North Alabama. 
In a few years' time a steady stream of immigrants 
from Tennessee, Georgia and Virginia were pour- 
ing into this state. 

The sad part of the story is this: After John 
Hunt had built his home, brought his family there 
to live and had cultivated a big farm, the govern- 
ment sold the lands on which he lived to other set- 
tlers. Because he had not signed the government 
papers which would have made his title good, the 
first settler in Huntsville was forced to turn over 
his claims to strangers. On a small plot which they 
allowed him to keep John Hunt built another cabin 
and started all over again to make a support for his 
family. 

Seven years after Hunt first found the Big 
Spring the town of Huntsville came into being. It 
was the first incorporated town in the state. Hunts- 
ville was the first state capital. The first newspaper 
published in Alabama was the "Madison Gazette" 
published in Huntsville. The first cotton factory 
in the state, of any size, was the Bell Factory near 
Huntsville. Probably the first hotel established in 
Alabama was the "Green Bottom Inn," in Hunts- 
ville, where Andrew Jackson lodged when he brought 
his famous horses to race on Conolly's race track. 
Jackson expected his thoroughbreds to win all the 
races but Conolly's own horse, "Gray Gander" was 
there and he won all the races. 

More than a hundred years have passed since 
Huntsville was founded. Many things have come 



114 HISTORY STOKIES OF ALABAMA 

to pass in that historic old town. Her war history 
would till a book. Her industries, her culture, and, 
her prominent men would furnish interesting ma- 
terial for another volume. Huntsville lived through 
the hard years, made the best of her advantages, 
and is now one of the most prosperous cities in the 
Tennessee Valley. 



ANDREW DEXTER'S TRACT 

The Beginning of Montgomery 

LONG before white men set foot on Alabama soil 
the Indians occupied a village on the present 
site of Montgomery. They called this village "Ecun- 
chate" which means "Ked Earth." 

Most of the famous Indians visited Ecunchate at 
one time or another, for it was close to Coosada, 
close to the Hickory Ground, and close to Charles 
Weatherford's famoits race track between Pickett 
Springs and Coosada ferry. Being on the same 
river which flowed by many other Indian villages, 
Ecunchate was the natural stopping place for many 
travelers. It is claimed that the chief, Tuscaloosa, 
and De Soto met on Capitol Hill. It is also said 
that their meeting place was below Selma. At any 
late Montgomery was the scene of many important 
events in Indian history. 

Just after Jackson had conquered the Indians 
and while the savages were still lurking in the 
woods, Arthur Moore built the first white man's 
cabin in what is now Montgomery. In the fall of 
1814 Moore came with his few belongings and set 
about felling trees with which to build his home. 
For years this old log cabin stood on the bank of 
the Alabama river. Then one day it grew tired of 
standing and toppled over into the river. 

When men were flocking from everywhere into 

115 



116 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

the land office at Milledgeville, Georgia, to buy gov- 
ernment lands Andrew Dexter went there to secure 
his share. He bought a large tract of land just east 
of the Indian town, Hostile Bluff, in Alabama. The 
first question which Dexter considered after taking- 
possession of his purchase was that of inducing 
traders and settlers to move in. He offered to give 
a lot to every trader who would set up a business 
in the neighborhood. J. G. Klink was the first mer- 
chant to accept the offer. Others soon followed and 
Montgomery became an important trading center. 

In laying off his town Dexter set aside a plot of 
ground for the state capitol. He waited a long time 
to see his dream of a capitol building on the hill 
come true. But after waiting thirty years the 
capital was moved from Tuscaloosa to Montgomery 
and Dexter 's plot became the capitol grounds. The 
town was first called "New Philadelphia" because 
it was such a busy, promising place. "Just like the 
real Philadelphia," said the settlers. 

In a short time two rival towns sprang up be- 
side New Philadelphia. One town was called "Ala- 
bama" and the other "East Alabama." Before 
long, however, the three were united into one town 
and named Montgomery in honor of Lemuel P. 
Montgcmiery, the hero of Horse Shoe Bend. 

The early settlers had to have some anuisements 
along with their hardships. They visited the I'aces 
hehl at AYeatherf ord 's Race Track. They watched 
tlie Indian games of l)all-play and they attended 
dancing school and enjoyed amateur theatricals. 



ANDTJEW DEXTEE'S TEACT 



117 



111 the Court House, which stood where the 
Fountain now stands on Court Square, all the pub- 
lic gatherings took place. LaW courts, public speak- 
ing, church services, dances, and celebrations of all 
kinds were held in the Court House. On either 
side of this important building the town extended 







INDIANS PLAYING BALL 



up Dexter Avenue on one side and down toward the 
river on the other. 

A little newspaper was published during Mont- 
gomery's early days. Advertisements like this were 
carried in its columns: "WANTED: To exchange 
a gun and rifle for bricks." "WANTED: Planks 
and shingles in exchange for a good saddle horse." 



118 HISTORY STOEIES OF ALABAMA 

Once when the town government needed money 
the city fathers imposed a tax of fifty cents a year 
on all surplus dogs. Each family was allowed to 
own one dog, free of tax, but for every one over that 
the master was made to pay fifty cents a year each. 

The first steamboat which came all the way up 
the river from Mobile to Montgomery was "The 
Harriet." She made the trip in ten days and it 
was a gala day in Montgomery when she arrived, 
loaded with merchandise. For necessities of life 
were very dear when they had to come over danger- 
ous roads from a long distance. 

Thirty years after Andrew Dexter set aside the 
grounds for the Capitol good news came from Tus- 
caloosa by way of the Selma stage-coach. The Leg- 
islature in session at Tuscaloosa had voted to move 
the capital to Montgomery. That evening a gi'eat 
torch light procession took place in the newly se- 
lected capital and the event was celebrated in proper 
style. In the fall of 1847 the state 's valuable papei's 
were packed in one hundred and thirteen boxes, 
loaded on one hundred and thirteen wagons at Tus- 
caloosa and hauled through the country to ^lont- 
gomery. Two years after the new Capitol was com- 
pleted while both houses of the Legislature were 
in session, fire broke out in the building. The 
Capitol was burned and many valuable papers were 
destroyed. Immediate steps were taken to rebuild 
it and by the time the next Legislature met the new 
home of the State Government was ready to be oc- 
cupied. Later on a wing was added to the liuilding. 



ANTDEEW DEXTEE'S TEACT 119 

Then the officials gradually increased in number 
until more room was needed and still another wing 
was added. 

Montgomery is especially associated with the 
events of the Confederate Government. Here the 
Confederacy had its beginning and the name given 
to the city is "The Cradle of the Confederacy." 
From the time that the capital was moved to Mont- 
gomery, the city was, of course, concerned in every 
important event in the state's history. The last 
big events being those connected with the war in 
Europe. Camp Sheridan was built in 1917. There 
the Ohio National Guard and soldiers from other 
states were trained for overseas service. Taylor 
Field, an aviation training camp, near Pike Roads, 
and the Aviation Repair Depot, near West Mont- 
gomery, were both built during the w^ar. The re- 
turn of Alabama soldiers from Europe was the 
crowning event in the city's history. 



CEDAR CREEK FURNACE 

The Beginning of Iron-Making in Alabama 

OVER the hills from somewhere came Joseph 
Heslip in the year 1818. When this iron-maker 
reached Franklin county, Alabama, he unhitched 
his horse, pitched his tent, and looked out across 
the acres that he was soon to possess. Most of the 
land was wild and uncultivated and could be bought 
from the government for a very small sum. Two 
dollars per acre was what Heslip paid for the large 
tract of land he purchased seven miles from the 
present town of Russellville. 

On a bend of Cedar creek, where the water had 
a sharp, quick flow, a furnace was built ])y Joseph 
Heslip. It was a rude structure, built chiefly of 
limestone rock. The furnace and smoke stack to- 
gether were not more than fifty feet high. The 
blast which heated the furnace was supplied by a 
bellows that was run by water power. Cedar char- 
coal was the fuel used. A settler of that early day 
made it his business to go into the woods, cut down 
cedar trees, stack them so that they would burn 
slowly, and thus convert the cedar into charcoal for 
the furnace. It is comforting to know that cedar 
was not as rare nor as expensive as it is now, but 
still such a waste seems deplorable. 

The iron- was not dug from the hill sides as it is 
now, but was picked from the surface of the earth. 

120 



CEDAK CREP^Jv FUKXACE 



121 



Many farmers gladly gave ■ away piles of iron ore 
that had collected on their farms, jnst to be rid of 
it. Before Heslip came to Alabama, the settlers 
thought that ii'bn ore was good only for making dye- 




MIMX»; IKON (UM; in ALARAISIA T()-I)A^■ 

stuft* \N'hi('h was used in dyeing breeches, blankets 
and various articles of clothing. But it was not long 
before the iron maker was supplying bar iron to the 
blacksmiths and making cooking utensils for the 
stoveless inhabitants of the hill countrv. 



122 HISTOKY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

For a while the Cedar creek furnace prospered 
greatly. Then suddenly an epidemic of sickness 
that was probably malarial feyer descended upon 
the inhabitants and a number of them died. Others 
moyed away and the little town that had sprung 
up around the furnace was deserted. For two years 
after Heslip left old Cedar Creek the place was 
without an inhabitant. Many thought it was haunt- 
ed. Then one day a man and his daughter from 
Tennessee arriyed at the deserted yillage. Aaron 
Wells began making iron at Cedar Creek Furnace. 
He took into partnership a young man named Dob- 
bins. A few months later Miss Wells also took Mr. 
Dobbins into partnership. After that Mr. and Mrs. 
Dobbins and Mr. Wells liyed comfortabl}^ in their 
small cottage near the creek. 

Life in that lonely bottom was too hard and too 
uncertain for eyen those braye pioneer furnace men, 
so they packed up one day and went back to Ten- 
nessee. A sweet baby girl, whose name was Nar- 
cissus went along with her parents and her grand- 
father in the coyered wagon. But she did not say 
which she liked better, Alabama or Tennessee. After 
Narcissus and her people left, Old Cedar Creek Fur- 
nace was yery lonely. 

Various men came there at different times and 
tried to opei'ate the old furnace. But they neyer 
succeeded in establishing a permanent business. 
Graduall}^ the place went to decay. The smoke stack 
collapsed, and the furnace crumbled into a heap of 
ruins. Tt is said tlmt underneath the weeds and 



CEDAT? CEEEK FTTEXACE 123 

bushes there are still remains of a slag pile and 
pieces of pots, skillets and iron bars partially buried 
in the ground. 

Not very far away modern furnaces are turning 
out huge streams of red hot iron every day and 
every night, but they bear only a slight resemblance 
to the blast fiu'nace built at Cedar Creek. Just on 
the other side of the hill from the Old Cedar Creek 
Furnace site, there is one of the largest iron ore 
mines in the state. While only a quarter of a mile 
from the old furnace there are the big limestone 
quarries at Rockwood. 

The foundation pillars of stone that suj)port the 
Mississippi river bridges at Memphis and at St. 
Louis came from the Rockwood quarries in Frank- 
lin county. Two train loads of building stone go 
out from these quarries daily. Big blocks of stone 
are sawed for building purposes and the crushed 
limestone is used as flux in the furnaces all over the 
mining country. 

In this same county about ten miles from Rus- 
sellville and two miles from Belgreen, the old county 
seat, there is a most wonderful underground lake. 
It compares favorably with the Mammoth Cave in 
point of interest and grandeur, yet few people have 
ever heard of this remarkable cave in Alabama. 
Natural steps lead down about seventy-five feet at 
the two entrances, on the east side and on the west 
side of the cave. At the water's edge the bottom 
of the lake can be seen in mid-afternoon, but it is 
said that the lake has no bottom in some parts of it. 



124 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

One man rowed out as far as he dared go, toward 
the north, tied six coils of rope together and to that 
tied a piece of iron which he dropped into the water. 
Even this long rope did not reach bottom. No one 
has ever gone to the north end of the lake. There 
is a story told of an Indian chieftain and his daugh- 
ter whose boat capsized in the lake, drowning the 
poor Indians in that deep, dark lake underground. 
There are many other caves in that limestone 
country. One called "The Bat Cave" is inhabited 
by millions of bats. It contains a long hall and sev- 
eral rooms. In numbers of these caves there are 
Indian writings showing that the Red Men used the 
caves for some purposes. Now that people have 
houses in which to dwell these caves are of little 
value, but it is pleasant to know that your own state 
contains places of interest that are really worth 
going to see. And to know that within a stone's 
throw of these places of interest there are some of 
the largest deposits of iron ore in the world is more 
than pleasant. It means advantages and prosperity 
for the future men and women of Alabama. 



A VICE-PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED 
STATES 

Wm. Rufus King, the Founder of Selma 

^riEN miles from Cahaba, Alabama's second capi- 
X tal, there was a beautiful spot known as High 
Soapstone Bluff. After Isaac Moore built the first 
log cabin there, the place was called Moore's Bluff. 
Eight years later, William Rufus King came back 
from Europe, where he had been sent in the service 
of the United States Government, and was wel- 
comed home by the citizens of Cahaba. That was 
in 1818 while Alabama was a territory and two 
years before Cahaba became the state capital. 

There on the beautiful plateau, which the early 
settlers called Moore's Bluff, Mr. King bought a 
tract of land three miles square. He had decided 
to build a city there. He formed a land compan3^ 
laid off the lots, and advertised them for sale. That 
was the beginning of Selma. 

At the time William Rufus King founded Selma 
he was greatly interested in the poems of Ossian. 
This old blind poet was the author of ' ' The Songs of 
Selma" which Mr. King admired. So the name, 
Selma, was selected for the town. In the Greek 
language, the word "Selma" has the meaning of 
''throne" and for that reason, also, W^. R. King 
fancied the name for his city. Mr. King foresaw 

125 



136 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

that Selma would become a power in the state. 
AVhen you read of the work done there by the Con- 
federate Arsenal; when you learn of Selma 's enor- 
mous river trade, and her growing business inter- 
ests, you will admit that Selma has fulfilled her 
founder's hopes. William Rufus King was for 
thirty years a member of the United States Senate. 
In 1844 he was appointed minister to France, where 
he performed valuable service as a diplomat. In 
1852 he was elected vice-president of the United 
States with Franklin Pierce, President. He was in 
Cuba at the time of his inauguration, but by spe- 
cial arrangement he was allowed to take the oath 
of office in Havana instead of at Washington. Mr. 
King had gone to Cuba for his health, but when he 
realized that he could never get well he wished to 
come back to his plateau-city to die. On the little 
river boat which plied between Mobile and Selma, 
Vice-President King died. But his memory will 
live as long as the good town of Selma stands on 
the banks of the river he loved. 



A CAPTAIN OF INDUSTRY 

Daniel Pratt, the Founder of Prattville 

WAY up in the hills of New Hampshire a little 
boy grew up. His parents were poor and the 
boy had only ten weeks of schooling in his whole 
life. At the age of sixteen Daniel Pratt was ap- 
prenticed as a carpenter. Before his apprentice- 
ship ended Daniel Pratt's employer had some sort 
of business trouble and had to let his young helper 
go. Then the young man decided to come South. 

Pratt had just barely enough money to pay his 
boat fare to Savannah. But luck was with him, for 
he so impressed the boat captain that the officer re- 
turned the young fellow's passage money when they 
reached Savannah. This twenty-five dollars and a 
fair knowledge of mechanics was all the boy had in 
the world with which to start his career. 

He soon went to work for a gin manufacturer in 
Georgia. In the course of time Daniel Pratt was 
taken into partnership with the manufacturer and 
together they built up a most profitable trade. Their 
success in Georgia caused them to try a gin factory 
in Alabama and they agreed to come to this state 
and set up a plant. But at the last moment the 
other man declined to move, saying that Indian at- 
tacks made life too uncertain in Alabama. 

Pratt said that a little thing like Indians could 
not scare him and he was soon on the road to Ala- 

127 



128 



HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 



bama witli the parts of fifty gins loaded in wagons. 
Two slaves drove the wagons and Mrs. Pratt rode 
inside the covered van. They settled in a log cabin 
at Elmore Mills, near Wetumpka. In a remark- 
ably short time every one of the gins were sold. Then 
Pratt leased a place on Autauga ci'eek for five 
years. There he set up a gin factor}^ and made gins 
for other white settlers. 




ANTK-J3ELLUM GIN liorsi' AMJ COTTOX I'lMlSS 



After some time Daniel Pratt found that there 
was a better location two miles up the creek from 
his plant. Excellent water power was there going 
to waste. So he bought a thousand acres right 
where the town of Prattville now stands and in 
1834 the Prattville Gin AVorks and the town of 
Prattville began. The plant, which is one of the 
largest in the world today, has always made a big 



A CAPTAIN OF INDUSTRY 129 

profit. Even the War Between the States did not 
put an end to this factory. During the war Daniel 
Pratt gave liberally toward equipping Southern sol- 
diers. He was loyal to the South in spite of the 
fact that he was reared in the North. 

Daniel Pratt was one of the pioneer coal miners. 
One of the first veins of coal found in the state was 
bought by Pratt and the mines there bear his name. 
Pratt City grew up around Pratt mines and they 
are both a constant reminder of Alabama's first cap- 
tain of industry. 



LA FAYETTE'S VISIT 

A French General, the Friend of America 

THE big crowd gathered on the banks of the 
Chattalioochee river waited impatiently for the 
boat that was slowly making her way toward Fort 
Mitchell. At Columbns, Georgia, ten miles np the 
river, the little steamer had whistled the glad tid- 
ings with all her might as she pulled out from the 
landing and started on her way again down the 
river. 

*'She is coming!" cried one. ''He is coming!" 
declared another. The first speaker referred to the 
steamboat, the second to the distinguished pas- 
senger aboard the boat. Marquis de La Fayette was 
on that boat and he was coming to visit the people 
of Alabama. 

It had been forty-eight years since nineteen- 
year-old La Fayette came over from France to 
America and offered his services to George A¥ash- 
ington. It had been more than forty years since the 
nobleman returned to France. But American j^eo- 
ple still loved and honored the Frenchman who had 
helped them win the War of Independence from 
Great Britain. La Fayette's tour through America 
was like the march of a mighty conqueror. Every- 
where he went tributes of praise and demonstra- 
tions of honor and gratitude were showered upon 
the friend of George Washington and America. 

130 



LA FAYETTE'S VISIT 131 

As La Fayette entered Alabama at Fort Mitchell 
foi ty painted Indians, led by the son of the Indian 
General, William Mcintosh, greeted the visitor as 
he stepped ashore. A sulky drawn by a number of 
Indian braves carried La Fayette to the top of the 
hill where the white people stood. There the braves 
placed the carriage on the ground and gave three 
loud whoops. Then prominent citizens welcomed 
La Fayette with speech-making and handshaking. 
After that the Indians entertained the crowd with 
an old-time game of ball play. 

The trip to Montgomery was made through the 
country. For in 1825 there was not a railroad in 
the United States. About two hundred soldiers 
marched as an escort to La Fayette. Other men 
rode in carriages or on horseback behind the gen- 
eral. Finally the party arrived in Montgomery. A 
brass band played "Hail to the Chief" while the 
crowds on the streets sent up cheer after cheer as 
La Fayette rode up Dexter Avenue toward Capitol 
Hill. There was no Capitol building on the hill then 
but right on the spot where the Capitol now stands, 
(lovernor Pickens and other state officials welcomed 
Alabama's honor guest. 

Old soldiers who had fought in the Revolution 
and who like the French nobleman had grown feeble 
and gray-haired clung to the general's hand while 
tears coursed down their weather-beaten cheeks. 
After the formal exercises on the hill the festivities 
began. Until midnight the merry-making went on. 
A big barbecue supper was served just back of the 



132 HISTOEY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

Capitol grounds on what is now the La Fayette 
school grounds. At the close of the celebration a 
crowd accompanied the nobleman to the river land- 
ing where he again said goodbye to the people of 
Montgomery and resumed his journey. 

Selma paid homage to the great general in true 
Selma style. Cahaba was the next point he visited. 
There every courtesy was shown the nation's guest. 
A few days later he arrived in Mobile and received 
another royal welcome. From Mobile the Marquis 
de La Fayette went to New Orleans. Alabamians 
knew they were bidding him a last farewell, for he 
was already more than seventy years old. But his 
*' three score and ten years" had been nobly spent 
and there was nothing to regret. 

After that visit the people of America never 
saw La Fayette again. But ninety years later, the 
spirit of this noble general called American men to 
arms. For France was fighting for freedom and for 
humanity and she needed America's aid. Even be- 
fore the United States entered the war, Alabama 
men with other Americans answered the call for 
help. By 1917 the whole country was ready and 
eager to do its share while everywhere men were 
shouting, "La Fayette, we come!" 



FRANCIS SCOTT KEY'S MISSION TO 
ALABAMA 

Trouble with the Indians 

AFTER the Choctaws, the Creeks and the Chicka- 
saws in Alabama had signed treaties ceding to 
the United States government all of their lands 
east of the Mississippi river white settlers began 
pouring into the territory. The government had 
promised the Indians homes in the West and also 
that they would not be disturbed in their Alabama 
homes until the date set for their removal. But 
some of the white settlers were impatient and 
showed a disposition to take possession of their 
grants just when it suited their own convenience. 
Much disturbance was created and some serious 
trouble arose. 

In August, 1833, a white man, Hardeman Owen, 
was killed by soldiers. The militia stationed at Fort 
Mitchell had been instructed to help in removing 
any intruders who refused to obey the marshal's 
orders to move. Hardeman Owen was the first 
victim of this order and other settlers were very in- 
dignant over his death. The Grand Jury of Rus- 
sell county indicted the soldiers who took part in the 
killing of Owen. Governor John Gayle wrote a 
letter of protest to the President of the United 
States telling him that the people of Alabama felt 
that they were being mistreated. 

133 



134 HTSTOT^Y STOPTES OF ALABAMA 

Then the Government sent Francis Scott Key 
from Washinj^ton to Ala])ama to straighten ont the 
tronhle. First the great diplomat went to Fort 
Mitchell ^Yhere the soldiers were stationed. He 
fonnd ont what he conld there, then w^ent to Tns- 
caloosa which was the capital of the state at that 
time. Mr. Key and Governor Gayle talked the mat- 
ter over and came to an agreement. Francis Scott 
Key told the Governor that the reservations set 
aside for the Indians in the West wonld soon be 
ready for them and that if the settlers in Alabama 
wonld leave the Red Men alone for a short while 
everything conld be peacefully arranged. Some de- 
gree of harmony was restored and Mr, Key went 
back to Washington. 

Francis Scott Key was a good diplomat, bnt that 
is not the reason every boy and girl in America 
stands uj) for him. He wrote our National Hymn, 
"The Star Spangled Banner," long years before he 
came on his peace mission to Alabama. 



THE FIRST RAILROAD IN ALABAMA 

Experiences of Early Railroad Builders 

THERE was not a railroad in Alabama nor in 
the United States, either, when Alabama be- 
came a state in 1819. In fact, this state was nearly 
fifteen years old when the first railroad west of the 
Allegheny mountains was completed. It was only 
forty miles long and extended from Tuscumbia to 
Decatur. 

The man behind this railroad was David Hub- 
bard, a cotton planter, who lived near Florence. 
The planters of that section used the Tennessee 
river as a waterway but there was the Muscle 
Shoals obstructing the passage and making it im- 
possible to send freight more than fifteen miles 
above Florence by water. So Avlien David Hubbard 
heard of a new method of transportation that was 
being used in Pennsylvania he determined to make 
the trip to that northern state and find out about the 
new invention. 

He left Florence on horseback and rode all the 
way to Mauch Clumk, Pennsylvania, where the first 
railroad train in the United States was operated. 
The Pennsylvania railroad was only twenty miles 
long and over this crude line miners were hauling 
coal. "If these people can move coal with such a 
train we can move cotton the same way," thought 

135 



]36 



in STORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 



Major Hubbard. He came home determined to 
build a railroad in Alabama. A number of people 
promised financial assistance for the new venture, 
but Benjamin Sherrod was the only man who kept 
his promise. 

These two men schemed and planned and worked 
for their enterprise until all of their personal prop- 
erty had been put into it and their physical strength 
was almost gone. At last the forty miles of railroad 
were completed. The track consisted of parallel 
wooden rails with heavy iron bars fastened on top 




THE FIRST RAILWAY TRAIN 



of them by means of iron bolts. In this day of 
cross ties, steel rails and good road beds the first 
railroad track would seem ridiculous. But it was 
considered quite wonderful in 1832. 

Twelve or fifteen miles a year was as much as 
could be built and that cost the promoters about 
$5,000 a mile. AVhen at last a few miles of the road 
were completed the builders bought a little locomo- 
tive, with a copper hi*e ))ox, and started the first 
train over the Tuscumbia-Decatur railroad. The 
cars were piled high witli cotton ; a man of courage 



THE FIRST EAILEOAD IN ALABAMA 137 

and daring stood at the throttle; great crowds gath- 
ered all along the route and cheered loudly as the 
little engine came puffing by at the rate of ten miles 
an hour. After a while the engine grew unman- 
ageable and the trainmen just locked it up in a 
shop and ran the train with good old-fashioned 
horse-power. 

Although David Hubbard and Benjamin Sher- 
rod grew discouraged and thought their efforts were 
all for nothing, this Tuscumbia-Decatur railroad 
blazed the way for the old Memphis and Charleston 
road which sent its trains throbbing through the 
state twenty years later. Other railroads, which 
came afterwards, profited by the knowledge which 
the first road builders bought so dearly. 



OSCEOLA 

The Leader of the Creeks and the Seminoles 

0S( 'EOLA was only fourteen years old when he 
led a fierce attack upon the white people whom 
lie hated. No big Indian chief ever hated white 
men more than did this young warrior. Perhaps 
his father was responsible for the way he felt to- 
ward all white people. For his father was a white 
man who was none too kind to Osceola's little bi'own 
mother. Polly Copinger was the Indian mother's 
name. It is said that she was a high-tempered In- 
dian princess, who resented Powell's treatment of 
her so much that she took her young son and went 
back to her own people. And she hated white 
people ever afterwards. Osceola did likewise. 

Osceola was fierce and cruel, but he ahvays told 
his warriors, ''Treat women and children kindly." 
He was born in Macon county, Alabama. His 
mother's people, the Red Sticks, lived on the Chat- 
tahoochee, the waters of which were very dark, 1)\' 
I'cason of the roots of plants that lined the l)anks of 
the stream. So Polly Copinger named her little 
son, As-sa-he-o-la (black water). The white people 
pronounced it Osceola. 

When the Indians fied before the white army 
which the government sent to Alabama and other 
southern states to subdue the Red Man, Osceola led 

138 



OSCEOLA 



139 



his warriors into the Everglades of Florida where 
they joined the Seminoles. Osceola was not very 
tall and not very straight, but his defiance and his 
unbreakable will made up for what he lacked in 
])hysique. Imagine a medium-sized Red Man, clad 
in a buckskin shirt that reached to his knees, a tur- 
ban of gray, silver-coin ear-rings, leggings and moc- 







BURIAL OF THE CHIEF 



casins that were fringed and beaded, and you will 
have a mind-picture of the young chieftain. Osceola 
was very skillful with the bow and arrow, although 
he preferred the white man's gun, which he handled 
with perfection. In one battle Osceola killed forty 
wdiite men with his own hands. 

He became the leader of the Seminoles with two 



140 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

under chiefs, Jumper and Alligator, who were as 
fearless and daring as Osceola himself. For fifteen 
years this leader of the Seminoles went from one 
chief to another preaching destruction of the whites 
and begging the chiefs to hold the land which their 
forefathers owned. It was on Osceola's account that 
the United States government spent ten million dol- 
lars and lost two thousand men in an effort to con- 
quer the Indians and to move them to lands in the 
West. 

"I will not sign the treaty to give away Indian 
lands and I will kill any chief who signs it," he 
cried, when the government agent was trying to per- 
suade the Indians to leave Florida. But in the end 
"The Treaty of Payne's Landing" was signed by 
Indian chiefs and the Indians bade farewell to their 
old hunting grounds. 

It was impossible for the white soldiers to cap- 
ture the cunning chief, for he knew the Everglades 
and they did not. At last he was persuaded to go to 
St. Augustine for a conference and while there he 
was put in prison. He died in chains at Fort Moul- 
trie in Charleston, South Carolina. All good In- 
dians, and bad ones too, believed that when Osceola's 
spirit passed away it joined those of other brave In- 
dians who had gone before to the ''Happy Hunting 
Ground." And maybe his little brown mother was 
waiting there too. A¥ho knows? 



WILLIAM B. TRAVIS 

Leader in the War for Texas Independence 

WILLIAM B. TRAVIS came with his parents 
from South Carolina when he was nine years 
old. They settled in Conecuh county, Alabama, 
twenty-five miles from Evergreen. William was the 
oldest of seven children. Schools were poor at that 
time, but in some way the boy managed to get an 
education. He studied law at Claiborne and began 
practicing at Old Sparta which was then the county 
seat of Conecuh. Being a big, handsome man, who 
was a gifted orator and absolutely fearless, it was 
easy for him to impress a jury and win his cases. 

In the course of time, William B. Travis moved 
to Texas on the Brazos river. He soon took his place 
as a leader of men. When the call for soldiers in 
the war for Texas Independence came Travis was 
put in command of a company. 

On the twenty-second day of February, 1836, 
there came upon the town of San Antonio, Texas, 
a shrieking band of Mexicans. About four thou- 
sand of them followed their leader, Santa Anna, 
into the town where they took possession. 

William B. Travis with one hundred and forty- 
one soldiers, retreated within the walls of the old 
Fort Alamo. Most of those brave men were native 
Texans, but some of them were from other states 

141 



142 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

who had vohmteered to help Texas win lier inde- 
pendence from Mexico. For twelve days the little 
army within Fort Alamo fought the hopeless tight 
against the horde outside. Except for the arrival of 
Captain Smith, with less than a score of men, no 
assistance whatever came for the men of the Alamo. 
This fort was an oblong structure whose w^alls and 
buildings spread over more than two acres of 
ground. The walls around the fort were twenty- 
three feet high and three feet thick. 

If you have ever read the story of David Crock- 
ett you will recall the fact that he was a Tennes- 
seean who often came into Alabama trading or 
hunting. He was considered the best marksman in 
the country. For two whole days Davy Crockett 
stood on top of the wall at Fort Alamo and kept 
one of the Mexican guns silent. He simply stood 
there and shot down every Mexican who tried to 
fire the cannon. At the end of forty-eight hours 
dead Mexicans lay all around the cannon and poor 
Davy Crockett was also dead. Then the big cannon 
opened fire upon the walls of the fort. 

With death so close at hand, many soldiers 
would have thought the fight hopeless. But Travis 
and his men never gave up. Colonel Travis decided 
to send out messengers who might possi])ly secure 
help from somewhere. Young Bonham of South 
Caiolina with two companions volunteei'ed to run 
through the enemy's shower of bullets and seek as- 
sistance for the doomed men inside Fort Alamo. 
They made the rush and succeeded in escaping 



WILLIAM B. TRAVIS 143 

through the Mexican lines. But no help was to be 
had from the outside. Bonham said, "Let's go 
back." But his companions replied, "To go back is 
worse than useless. We can do nothing and it means 
sure death for all of us," Then Bonham answered, 
"Colonel Travis sent me on a mission. I am going 
back to report to him." The young soldier started 
l)ack alone, but he did not live to make his report. 
A Mexican bullet ended his life. 

At last the enemy's cannon made a hole through 
the stone wall and the Mexicans poured into the 
fort. What happened after that is too dreadful to 
relate. Only three people escaped, a woman, a baby 
and Colonel Travis' negro servant, Ben. It was 
Ben who made his way back to the old Travis home 
in Alabama and told T. T. Travis of Brewton, Ala- 
bama, how his brother had fought and how he had 
died within old Fort Alamo. "He stood with his 
])ack to the wall and shot down the Mexicans until 
he dropped dead," Ben told his master's brother. 

T. T. Travis went with Ben back to San Antonio 
and examined the ruins where the Hero of the 
Alamo fought his last fight. 



BILLY GOOLD 

The Man Who Found Fortunes for Others 

BILLY GOOLD was having trouble. His head 
and his heart refused to work together. Billy 
washed to go to Australia to seek his fortune and he 
also wished to marry his Jeannie. Billy knew that 
he would never earn more than a few shillings a 
day in Scotland, for that was all he had ever earned 
in the mines of that country and all that his father 
before him had earned. But Jeannie set her firm 
young lips and declared stoutly that she w^ould not 
go to Australia. 

William gave up the trip to Australia and mar- 
ried Jeannie. But William needed watching. For 
no sooner were they married than he began making 
plans to cross the ocean. A few months after the 
wedding Billy Goold boldly announced to his wife 
that he was going to America where a man has a 
chance to make money for himself. Jeannie cried, 
of course. She cried still more when they had to 
sell their little home and their cheap furniture. She 
probably w^ept her heart out during the three long 
years that she waited for Billy Goold to send for 
her. 

At last he saved up enough money to send to 
Scotland for his wife and little son whom he had 
never seen. In the early fall of 1854 William 

144 



BILLY GOOLD 145 

Goold stood on the dock at Philadelphia, Pennsyl- 
vania, waiting for Jeannie and the boy to come 
ashore. He had not made his fortune, but what did 
they care'? They had each other and the boy. 

Not long after his family joined him Goold saw 
an advertisement in a Philadelphia paper calling 
for coal miners at Tuscaloosa, Alabama. They set 
out immediately for that place. When the Scotch- 
man reached Alabama he found the iron makers 
paying forty dollars a ton for Pennsylvania coal. 
This was hard anthracite coal which contained little 
soot or smoke and was, therefore, thought necessary 
in making iron. 

Billy Goold knew something which these Ala- 
bama furnace men did not know. That was how to 
make coke, by burning slowly the soft bituminous 
coal until the soot and smoke disappeared, leaving 
clean fuel for the furnaces. For a long time he 
operated his coke ovens and supplied the iron 
makers with coke at eight dollars per ton. This 
coke was really better for heating furnaces than an- 
thracite coal was, and since it cost only one-fifth as 
much, the furnace men were glad to get it. 

Billy Goold was making money fast and Jeannie 
was happy. But summer came and business grew 
dull. Then for months the Goold family drifted 
from one place to another. When the Confederacy 
most needed coal and iron Billy Goold was mining 
coal at Helena, in Shelby county. For three years 
of the war he sent seventy-five tons a day to the 
foundry at Selma. Then Wilson's raiders burned 



UC^ 



HlSTOljy STOKMES OF ALAB.UIA 



his milling oTitfit and three thousand tons of coal. 
After the war was over and the South was try- 
ing to get back what she had lost in property by 
opening up new industries, Billy Goold was among 
the first prospectors who found wealth in the min- 
eral legion of Alabama. But the Scotchman found 
wealth for other people, never for himself. 




INDIAXS SI:aI!('II l\(; I'Ol! (iOLI) 



J()sei)h Squiie was Billy Goold's x^'^^i'tiK^i' ^^ 
searching and digging for gold. These two men 
went into every mineral county in the state with 
pick axes and shovels on their shoulders. Some- 
times they sl('i)t in a settler's cabin, sometimes out 
in the woods under the stars. But they held on 
until thev found a rich seam of coal. "Not one dol- 



THE YI?sTE AXD OLTVE COMPAXY 147 

Inr (lid 1 have," Goold said loiii^' afterwards. "For 
over tAvo montlis 1 diij;' night and day in the War- 
rior coal tiekls. Then one day I strnck a seam that 
made my lieart thmnp for the thickness of it." 
This was the seam which underlies the Pratt mines 
in Jefferson county. 

Billy Goold and his partner bought eighty acres 
a piece of the coal lands in the Warrior coal fields. 
But they w^ere not good business men and soon sold 
their claims for a small sum. "I sold my land for 
a song," the old Sc(^tchman said, "and E)e Bardele- 
ben and Aldrich put the tune to it." 

Tt was Daniel Pratt's mone}^ largely, that w^as 
used to develop, the seam of coal which extended for 
miles thiough the Warrior River Basin. That is 
why it was called Pratt mines. Other prospectors 
knew enough alxmt making fortunes to take ad- 
vantage of Billy Goold 's discovery. 

The coal seam that "Uncle Billy Goold" found 
has supplied coal for homes, stores, trains, ships, 
fui'uaces, factories and industries of every kind. It 
has meant employment for thousands of people and 
has brought billions of dollars into the state. 



JEFFERSON DAVIS 

Memories Recalled by Mrs. Mary Phelan Watt* 

FROM our home back of the Capitol down what 
was then Main or Market street, our father, 
Judge John D. Phelan, took us with him in the fam- 
ily carriage to the Exchange Hotel. That was in 
1860 when I was a very young girl and several 
months before Jefferson Davis was inaugurated as 
President of the Confederate States. 

The Capitol was brilliantly illuminated. Every 
window was filled with candles in scones tacked to 
the window frames. All down the street the same 
thing appeared in every window. Bonfires in ever}'- 
direction were kept ablaze by men and boys who used 
turpentine-soaked balls of cotton, boxes, barrels and 
pine wood. The Exchange Hotel was crowded with 
the beauty and the chivalry of the South. Mont- 
gomery then boasted of three companies of militia 
and all of them were on parade upon this occasion. 

As Mr. Davis appeared on the hotel balcony, 
bands played, drums beat and cheers rent the air. 
That was my first sight of the man who later be- 
came our president. I almost wept with excitement 

*This story was written by Mrs. Mary Phelan Watt of Montgomery. 
She was little Mary Phelan when she first saw the President of the Confed- 
eracy. She was so small that she had to stand on tiptoe to kiss her four 
big brothers good-bye when they marched away to war. 

148 



JEFFERSON DAVIS 



149 



when William Lowndes Yancey introduced Jeffer- 
son Davis saying, ''The man and the hour have 
met." 




INAUGURATION OF JEFFERSON DAVIS 



150 HISTOKY STOEIES OF ALABA^IA 

In appearance, Mr. Davis was tall, thin and 
spare. He was as erect as an Indian with the sol- 
dierly beaiing which his West Point training and 
his life as a soldier naturally gave him. After the 
speeches were over Mr. Davis came back into the 
hotel and shook hands with everyone present, not 
forgetting the children. 

The next time I saw Jefferson Davis was on that 
great and glorious occasion— the inauguration of 
the President of the Confederate States of America. 
He was standing on the porch of the State Capitol 
between two large columns. A brass star now marks 
the spot. On the immense platform, built in front 
of the Capitol for the occasion, the President's 
Cabinet and the Confederate Congress met. A seeth- 
ing mass of people from all over the Soitth filled the 
grounds and the streets near by. Soldiers were 
everywhere. Every military company in the Soutli 
was represented. The cadets from Tuscaloosa espe- 
cially delighted my young eyes. I thought they pre- 
sented the grandest sight I had ever beheld. 

On a table in front of "The Man of the Hour" 
lay a big Bible. My fathei' being Clerk of the 
Supreme Court lifted the Bible, Then, with all 
the solemnity which this momentous occasion de- 
manded, Jefferson Davis kissed the Book and took 
the oath of office as President of the Confederate 
States. Every Sunday after that while the Davis 
famil}^ remained in Montgomery I saw them in their 
pew at St. John's Episcopal Church. The pew is 
now marked with a silver plate. 



JEFFEESON DAVIS 151 

Many years passed and then I saw Mr. Davis 
again. He stopped over in Montgomery on liis way 
to Savannah to lay the cornerstone of the Confed- 
erate Monument on Capitol Hill. Never before in 
the annals of history had there been such a demon- 
stration in honor of a vanquished hero. The car- 
riage in which he rode from the station was liter- 
ally lifted from the ground and borne on the shoul- 
ders of men. The expression of homage and rever- 
ence for the ex-President of the Confederacy and 
the display" of devotion and fidelity to the ' ' Chieftain 
of the Lost Cause" exceeded any ovation ever given 
to a ma^'tyr or hero in the world's history. 

After the war Jefferson Davis was never allowed 
the rights of a citizen again in the United States. 
But he still ruled in the hearts of Southern people. 
''The Man Without a Country" had the whole of 
Dixie at his feet and the voice of the multitude 
seemed to cry out, "Our King can do no wrong." 



SUPPLIES FOR SOUTHERN SOLDIERS 

The Ordnance Department of the Confederacy 

NO field artillery, very little ammunition, only a 
few guns, no powder mill, no laboratory, no 
blast furnaces, neither lead nor saltpeter in store, 
only one cannon foundry and two rolling mills, and 
no skilled labor were in the South when war was de- 
clared in 1861. 

Knowing the desperate needs of the South, 
Josiah Gorgas resigned his position with the Fed- 
eral Government and came back to Alabama. Soon 
after he reached his home in Mobile President 
Davis sent for him and asked him to take charge of 
the Ordnance Department of the Confederate gov- 
ernment. 

Gorgas knew what the conditions were but in 
spite of them he shouldered the task of supplying 
arms and ammunition to the 150,000 Confederate 
soldiers then waiting to be equipped. Gorgas had 
been trained in the Military Academy at West 
Point. He had studied abroad the manufacture of 
war supplies and had served on the Ordnance Board 
of the United States Government for twenty years. 
So he was well fitted to take charge of the Con- 
federacy's Ordnance Department. 

Gorgas made his plans and then presented them 

152 



SUPPLIES FOR SOUTHER?sT SOLDIERS 153 

to the Confederate Congress at Montgomery. When 
they learned what he wished in the way of supplies, 
they were indignant and some of them said that 
such an outlay of money was outrageous. '^We will 
whip the North in ninety days", said one irate gen- 
tlemen, "Why your plans are absurd!" But that 
did not entirely discourage Josiah Gorgas. With 
what means he could secure he sent a man abroad to 
buy arms. Skilled labor was brought from other 
sections. A corps of officers was organized to fur- 
nish coal and iron for the Confederacy and shortly 
there was such a digging of coal and mining of iron 
as had never been known in the hills of this state. 
Steam power and new machinery were installed at 
Mt. Vernon Arsenal while foundries in other South- 
ern states were put in operation. 

Private concerns were given contracts for sup- 
plying the army. Negroes were used as miners and 
in the shops. In the agricultural region throughout 
the South where living expenses were moderate, 
shops, foundries, armories, arsenals, and supply 
depots were established. Experts were employed in 
the factories to make sure that the ammunition was 
all right. Orders were sent out to gather all sorts of 
odds and ends from the homes and farms. Old lead 
pipes, window weights, church bells, copper kettle?, 
worn-out tools, cooking vessels, and every scrap of 
iron or metal that could be found were sent to the 
arsenal to be made into guns and ammunition. 

During the first j-ear of the war the demands 
upon the Ordnance Department were much greater 



154 HISTOEY STOEIES OF ALABAMA 

than they could supply. Guns, swords, pistols, 
spurs, haversacks, tents, harness, saddles, bridles, 
bits, trace chains, horse shoes, cartridge boxes, belts, 
canteens and other necessities were ordered and re- 
ordered before they could be made. It was not long 
before the blockade of Southern ports cut off the 
shipments that had come by water while the land 
forces of the enemy prevented supplies from being 
shipped by rail or wagons. 

Factories were often destro3^ed. Many times the}^ 
were moved from one place to another. Lack of 
food and clothing for workmen and their families 
proved a serious drawback and a lack of money de- 
layed the work. But in spite of all these difficulties, 
in two years time there was a string of armories, 
arsenals and laboratories stretching from one end 
of the Confederacy to the other. The old arsenal 
at Mt. Vernon was moved up the river to Selma 
which was then headquarters for skilled workmen. 
Selma was the natural distributing point f(n' the 
Confederacy and was in easy distance of the coal 
and iron fields. Lumber and saltpeter were also 
nearby. 

A number of old cotton sheds were turned into 
work shops while other frame buildings were 
qui<'kly l)nilt. The powder l)uildings alone covered 
five acres. Machinery for making army su]^plies of 
every kind was ]^laced in different (le])artnients and 
the work went on with marvelous speed. Nothing- 
like the Selma arsenal was ever seen before in the 



SUPPLIES FOP SOUTHEPN SOLDTPPS 155 

Sontli. 8oiitlierii nieir gave their knowledge, their 
skill and their time to the task of making sn))|)Iies 
for the soldiers of the Confederate army and the re- 
resnlt was a magnificent Ordnance Department that 
was the eqnal of any in the United States. 



THE BOY ARTILLERYMAN 

John Pelham 

4 FEW DAYS before the first gun was fired 
l\. at Fort Sumter, a boy, John Pelham, left his 
classes at West Point and started on the long jour- 
ney to his beloved Southland. He would have re- 
ceived his commission from the Military Academy 
in another week and he had worked five years for 
that diploma. But the South was calling her sons 
to come home and this young cadet answered the 
summons. 

No one thought it especially creditable that John 
Pelham laid aside his personal ambition to place 
himself at the service of the Confederacy. For hun- 
dreds of other young men did the same thing and 
thousands of older men sacrificed the work of a life- 
time for the cause they knew was right. 

Long before Pelham left West Point the strug- 
gle had begun between the North and the South. Both 
sides were preparing for the war that was sure to 
follow. Pelham knew that he would have trouble 
in crossing the line which divided the two sections. 
When he left New York he disguised himself as a 
Northern scout. He managed to slip past the 
guards at Louisville, Kentucky, and then he was 
safe in Dixie. He made his way to his home in 
Calhoun county, Alabama, spent a short while with 

156 



THE BOY ARTILLERYMAN 157 

his parents, and went straight to the Confederate 
capital at Montgomery to enlist. 

Pelham was made first lieutenant of artillery and 
was sent at once with the regular army to Virginia. 
His first taste of war was at the battle of Manassas. 
He evidently liked the taste. For he stood behind 
his gun and fired a deadly rain of shot and shell at 
the enemy during the whole battle. He had come 
home to fight and that was exactly what John 
Pelham proposed to do, first, last and all the time. 
He was as composed and as sure of himself as 
though he were hunting birds in the woods of Cal- 
houn county. Older officers noted that stern young 
face and they also noticed the enemy fall victim to 
the Boy Artillerj^man 's skillful firing. 

After the battle Pelham was commissioned to 
raise a battery of horse artillery and by the time 
the battle of Williamsburg was fought he was in 
charge of a well-trained company. All day at 
Williamsburg the bullets fell in torrents around 
him. The big guns roared and thundered. But the 
noise of the raging battle passed unnoticed by John 
Pelham and his splendid command. 

It was at Cold Harbor, some time later, that 
John Pelham won distinction. All day long he kept 
three batteries of the enemy busy, answering the 
fire from his one lone battery. Absolutely fearless 
and untiring, the boy and his followers stood at 
their posts dealing death and destruction to the Blue 
Coats. 

Stonewall Jackson grasped the young Alabam- 



158 HIS'JY)1^Y STOEIES OF AT.ABAMA 

ian's liaud after the battle and spoke words of 
praise that any soldier would have been proud to 
hear. By that time the whole army of Virginia was 
ringing with accounts of John Pelham's cold, steady 
nerve. General Stuart was beginning to depend 
upon this young officer's assistance in battle and 
"Leave it to Pelhani" had become a sort of by- 
word among the officers. 

AVhen the second battle of Manassas began young 
Pelham appeared on the field with his guns. With- 
out considering the danger for an instant he rode 
with his men to the front ranks, placed his guns 
just as close to the enemy's line as good sense 
would allow and commenced the deadly firing which 
the Federals had learned to respect. Oh, jts ! Pel- 
ham got them. That was the reason he was in the 
front ranks. He mowed down the Federals like 
wheat and when others arose to take their places 
he mowed them down the same way. 

It was at Fredericksburg that he won the title 
of "The Gallant Pelham." Just as though he were 
practicing he went w^ith a single big gun to the very 
base of the heights on which the Federals were sta- 
tioned and opened fire. Both armies saw the youth- 
ful figure standing at his post so unconcerned and 
so efficient. Fven the Hoys in Blue felt a thrill 
of pride in his courage, although he ])ecame a tar- 
get for the marksmen on the enemy's side. At last 
his amnuuiition gave out and he was ordered to re- 
tire and take charge of the division on the right. 
Pelham Avas not injured at all in spite of the lisk 



THE BOY AETTLLET^YMAN 159 

he took. Shortly after the battle Robert E. Lee 
commended the young officer and bestowed the title 
which will always follow him, "The Grallant Pel- 
ham. ' ' 

No, Pelham did not become a noted general and 
lead the Southern army to victory. This is what 
happened : Two years after the war began Pelham 
was dining one evening with friends in Culpepper 
county, Virginia. Suddenly the booming of guns 
sent him hurrying out into the yard. He heard the 
sound of battle and although his own men were not 
with him, he mounted his horse and rode at break- 
neck speed toward Kelly's Ford. When he arrived 
he found a regiment in confusion and in need of a 
leader. "Forward, men!" cried the young officer's 
voice. That was John Pelham 's last order. While 
he spoke a fragment of a shell pierced his skull and 
the Boy Artilleryman died instantly. 

His bod}^ rests in the old cemetery at Jackson- 
ville, Ala1)ama, but the spirit of John Pelham still 
lives. In his heart every boy wishes that he could 
be exactly like "The Gallant Pelham." Many times 
since Pelham fell, young officers have shouted "For- 
ward, men!" and Alabama boys obeyed the com- 
mand. 



EMMA SANSOM 

The Girl who showed General Forrest "The Lost Ford" 

OUTSIDE the little frame house on their farm 
near Gadsden, Alabama, stood Emma Sansom. 
her mother and older sister. They shaded their 
eyes with their hands as they looked anxiously down 
the road at the cloud of dust approaching. *'It's the 
Yankees!" the three women exclaimed. 

Sure enough, it was the Yankees with the cour- 
ageous Streight at their head. Through the hilly 
country of North Alabama Streight and his men 
were hurrying. The depot of supplies for the 
Southern army at Rome, Georgia, was their des- 
tination. To destroy the railroads in North Ala- 
bama and Georgia was their mission. For days, 
Streight 's raiders had been trying to evade For- 
rest. Other Northern troops had tried to engage 
Forrest in battle so that Streight wovild accomplish 
the destruction he had planned. But Nathan B. 
Forrest refused to yield to the bait offered and kept 
in hot pursuit of Streight 's raiders. 

It was not an unusual thing for the Sansom 
family to see Blue Coats riding by and it was a 
very common thing for them to hear the Rebel yell 
and to divide their little store of provisions with 
the hungry Boys in Gray. Their only protector, a 
brother of the girls, was fighting with the Nine- 

1 GO 



EMMA SANSOM IGl 

teeutli Alabama Infantry and since the first year of 
the war Mrs. Sansom and her daughters had made 
their own support by working their farm and at- 
tending to the livestock they owned. 

About eight or nine o'clock one May morning 
in 1863, the tramp of horses in the distance brought 
the Sansom family into the yard. There they stood 
watching anxiously until the Federal soldiers drew 
rein at their gate. "We want some water," they 
called. Emma and her sister hurried to the well 
and soon returned with a bucket of water each 
which they passed to the men. "Where is your 
father?" inquired one of the men. "My father is 
dead," replied the younger girl. "Have you any 
brothers?" another soldier asked. "Yes, I have 
six," answered Emma without glancing at her sis- 
ter's astonished face. "Where are your brothers 
now?" continued the soldier. "They are all fight- 
ing in the Confederate army," boasted the girl. 
"Do they think the South is going to whip?" in- 
quired the soldier, laughing. "They do," stated the 
young girl. "What do you think about it?" he per- 
sisted. "I think God is on our side and we will 
win," answered Emma Sansom. During this con- 
versation some of the soldiers had dismounted and 
were searching the house. They found nothing of 
value but one of them amused himself by cutting the 
skirts off of the only saddle in the house. 

Now there were gallant men in the Northern as 
well as in the Southern army and when an officer 
saw what his men were doing he called, "You men 



162 HISTOrJY STOPtTES OF ALABAMA 

briiig a cliuiik of fire and get OTit of that bouse." 
The officer then placed a guard around the house 
and assured tlie frightened women that the guard 
would protect them. Presently the Blue Coats rode 
away toward the bridge. A few minutes later, Mrs. 
Sanson! cried, "They are burning the bridge! I see 
the smoke." With that she started toward the 
lower end of the field, calling, "Come with me. AVe 
must pull our fence rails away so they will not be 
burned." But when the three women reached the 
spot where they could see the bridge they saw their 
own fence rails piled on top of the bridge sending 
red flames high above the burning bridge. 

With sad faces they turned to go back to the 
house. But a shout of ' ' Halt and surrender ! ' ' made 
them forget their loss for a moment. The order 
was not for the women, however, but for a Federal 
soldier who was riding pell mell toward the bridge 
to join his company. Behind the Blue Coat came 
a dozen or more men in gray. Just as they reached 
the Sansom place they overtook the Northern trooper 
who threw up his hands and surrendered to the 
officer who had shouted "Halt!" 

Turning to Mrs. Sansom and her daughters the 
Confederate officer said, "Ladies, do not be alarmed. 
I am General Forrest. My men will protect you." 
Then he asked, "Where are the Yankees'?" "They 
are standing in line on the other side of Black Ci'eek 
Bridge," replied the mother. "See, they have set 
the bridge on fire. Don't go down that hill, Gen- 
eral Forrest, foi* they will kill the last one of you." 



EMMA SANSOM 163 

But the Confederate general dashed forward and 
both sides began firing. Forrest soon realized that 
it was useless to continue firing across the stream. 
He rode back to the house where the women had fled 
to safety. Sixteen-year-old Emma Sansom stood in 
the doorway. "Can you tell me where I can get 
across that creek f" Forrest asked her. "There is 
an old bridge al)out two miles down the creek," the 
girl replied, "but it is unsafe." Then suddenly she 
thought of the lost ford. "There is an old ford 
alDout two hundred yards above the bridge on our 
farm," the girl exclaimed; "our cows cross there in 
low water and I believe you can get your men 
across. If you will have a horse saddled for me I 
will show you the way." "There is no time to sad- 
dle a horse," the general declared; "Get up behind 
me." Forrest whirled his horse around to a bank 
and Emma Sansom leaped up behind him. 

"Emma! what do you mean"?" shrieked her 
mother. The girl laughed with excitement, while 
General Forrest called back, "She is going to show 
me where I can get my men across the creek in time 
to catch the Yankees before they get to Rome. 
Don't be uneasy. I'll bring her back safe." 

General Forrest and the girl were shielded f I'om 
view of the enemy by a thicket that grew along the 
way. But they soon came to a spot that was un- 
protected by the undergrowth. "General Forrest," 
said the girl, "I think we had better get off the 
horse now. They can see us here." Then they dis- 
mounted and crept through the bushes until they 



16^ 



HISTORY STOEIES OF ALABAMA 



reached Black Creek, Emma Sansom leading the 
way. Stepping quickly in front of the fearless girl, 




GENKKAL FOHREST AND E]\I]\IA SWANSON 

General Forrest said, "I am glad to have you for a 
pilot, little lady, but I am not going to make breast- 
works of you." 



EMMA SANSOM 165 

By that time the shot from the enemy's guns 
were falling like hail and the cannon balls were 
screaming over the two scouts' heads. "That is the 
way to go," shouted the girl, pointing to the place 
known as ''the lost ford." Then she hid in the 
undergrowth until the firing ceased, while Forrest 
rode back to lead his men across the ford. After 
a while Emma started back to her home and on the 
way she met General Forrest again. He pleased her 
very much by asking for a lock of her hair. She 
was still more delighted when she received a note of 
thanks from the general. This note she kept until 
she was an old woman when she sent it to Dr. John 
Wyeth, who was writing a history of Nathan B. 
Forrest's life. Mrs. Emma Sansom Johnson then 
lived in Texas, but Alabama people still remember 
her as "the heroine of the lost ford." 

Thirty-six years after the girl's brave deed, the 
Alabama legislature expressed their gratitude to 
Emma Sansom by appropriating a tract of land, six 
hundred and forty acres, to her. A monument was 
erected in her honor near the banks of the Coosa 
river at Gadsden and her photograph was placed in 
the State Capitol by the side of other great women 
and men of the state. 



A STORY OF REAL STRATEGEM 

General Straight Surrenders to General Forrest 

IN less than thirty minutes after Forrest arrived 
at Black Creek, Streight's raiders were driven 
from the opposite side of the stream. The Federals 
hurried on to Gadsden but an advance guard of For- 
rest's army sped over the four miles after them. 
The raiders destroyed a quantity of ammunition, set 
fire to several houses and took all of the mules and 
horses they could find. But before they had en- 
tirely destroyed the commissary supplies Forrest's 
men overtook them and drove them from the town. 

For three days and nights Forrest's men rode 
and fought like mad men. Some of them went 
twenty-four hours without food. Toward the end 
of the march many of the poor felloAvs dropped 
from their saddles and slept in the road while their 
comrades' horses walked over their bodies. 

For fifteen miles Nathan B. Forrest kept the 
Federals on the run. Although he had only a hand- 
ful of worn-out men and poor, jaded hoi'ses, while 
Streight had twice that number of men and a fresh 
supply of mules and horses which he had stolen 
from the farms along the way. Thirtj^-one miles 
from Gadsden, at a place called Lawrence, Streight 
allowed his men to stop for food and rest. By that 
time his men were too exhausted to feed theii* 

IfiG 



A STORY OF REAT. 8TEATEGEM 167 

horses aud in a few minutes they were all sound 
asleep on the ground. 

When a great noise was heard in the distance 
the ofificers knew that Forrest's forces were coming. 
Wild efforts were made to arouse the sleeping Fed- 
eral soldiers. Streight and his officers shook them 
and threatened them with punishment, but most of 
them slept on. Just before Forrest came in sight 
about half of the command had aroused enough to 
shoulder arms. These were lined up and then or- 
dered to lie down to shoot. When the gray-clad 
soldiers came near, Streight ordered, ''Fire!" But 
his men were asleep again. With their guns in 
their hands and their faces to the foe the weary 
raiders went back to sleep. At this maddening mo- 
ment Streight sent up a flag of truce and asked for 
a conference with Forrest. 

Forrest was really no more anxious to fight than 
Streight was, for he had only a remnant of his army 
left. But the Southern general ordered his foe to 
surrender as though he had a big army at his com- 
mand. "Immediate surrender" was what Forrest 
said. "I Should like tahave a few minutes in which 
to consult with my officers," said Colonel Streight. 
"All right," replied Forrest, "but you will not re- 
quire much time. I have a column of fresh troops 
at hand. They are nearer Rome than a^ou are. You 
cannot cross the I'iver in your front and I have 
enough men right here to run over you." 

To prove this remarkable statement, which was 
not true at all, Forrest had arrane-ed a wonderful 



168 HISTOEY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

side show out iu the woods near by. Around the 
enemy Forrest's troopers were riding. Streight 
could not see them distinctly through the bushes. 
But to him there seemed to be thousands of mounted 
Confederates. It was really the same set of men 
who kept riding round and round and round. But 
Streight had no way of knowing that. Colonel 
Streight thought his army was literally surrounded 
and his officers believed likewise. With one accord 
they advised their leader to surrender. Then Colo- 
nel Streight ordered his men to stack their arms 
and surrender. Rome was saved! 



FIGHTING JOE WHEELER 



Hero of Two Wars 

AFTER a march of three days and nights in the 
drenching rain, General Wheeler with less than 
two thousand men arrived at Shelbyville, Tennes- 
see. Half of the firearms were 
unfit for use because they had 
been soaked by the heavy rains 
and the men were in a pitiable 
condition. But not one of them 
gave up hope even after they 
learned that the Federals were 
approaching with twelve thou- 
sand men. 

A short distance from Shel- 
byville, ''Little Joe" arranged 
his men. He ordered two regi- 
ments to dismount and check 
the fierce charge of the oncom- 
ing Federals. For more than 
an hour the two ragged regi- 
ments held their ground under 
the fire of the enemy's l)ig 
guns. At last the LTnion men 
cut their way through the ranks 
of the dismounted Confeder- 
ates and forced those in the riGiiTiNG joe wurklku 

1G9 




170 HISTOIJY STOHIES OF ATABAMA 

rear to retreat. But they only retreated a short 
distance, then came back. 

"Fighting Joe AVheeler" rode up and down 
his line, cheering his men and directing the fight. 
Two regiments of Federals were simply cut to 
pieces and before long they fell back. General 
Wheeler realized that the enemy would soon over- 
power him so he took advantage of the lull in the 
fight to hurry most of his men across the river. A 
small bridge spanned Duck River at this point. 
The majority of the soldiers with three pieces of 
artillery were sent across the bridge. The general 
called the four hundred picked men who stayed be- 
hind with him his ' ' forlorn hope. " " You will prob- 
ably be wounded, killed or captured," Wheeler told 
the four hundred men. "Any of you who wish to 
withdraw may go now before it is too late." But 
those men had the best blood of the South in their 
veins and they had no idea of leaving their gen- 
eral. They were not that kind. Instead they sent 
up three cheers for "Fighting Joe Wheeler" and 
then leaped into the fray. For at that very instant 
nearly twelve thousand Union men surged down 
upon the four hundred Confederates. 

For half an hour the fiercest hand-to-hand con- 
flict of the war raged. They fought with pistols, 
with sabers, and with the ])utt ends of their car- 
bines. They fought like mad men, while their gen- 
eral stormed up and down the lines, shouting orders 
and filling the very atmosphere with his own force 
and courage. 



FIGHTING JOP] WHEELER 171 

This was not the first battle in which the Fed- 
erals had suffered from Joe Wheeler's tactics and 
they wanted Wheeler's scalp. They recognized him 
by his uniform and the cry went up from the enemy, 
"That is Wheeler! That is the man! Kill him! 
Kill him! Get Wheeler!" The bullets began whiz- 
zing around the little general's head but a most re- 
markable thing took place at that moment. Near 
the general a group of fifty men stood. Most of 
them were wounded, others were too weak to fight 
and their ammunition had given out. There they 
waited, wondering how soon death would end their 
sufferings. Suddenly they saw their chief's danger 
and instantly the whole group rushed in front of 
General Wheeler, threw themselves around him like 
a breastwork, and caught the bullets in their own 
bodies. 

Wheeler saw that it was useless to fight longer. 
Calling to the few soldiers left he started pell mell 
toward the river bridge. But alas! a broken-down 
wagon blocked the road across the bridge and the 
shots from the enemy, close behind, made an in- 
stant's delay fatal. ''Into the river, boys!" yelled 
Wheeler. Over a twenty-foot bluff the Alabama 
soldiers leaped their horses. They hit the ice-cold 
water with a thud while a shower of bullets fol- 
lowed them. Only thirteen of the ''forlorn hope" 
swam across Duck River and escaped to the woods 
on the other side. 

The forces which had crossed the river, earlier 
in the day, soon joined Wheeler and another story 



172 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

begins. By daybreak next morning tlie Confeder- 
ates had rested and recovered strength to some ex- 
tent. A force of about five thousand cavalry troop- 
ers from Georgia and Tennessee reinforced the Ala- 
bama regiment and they were ready to attack the 
Federals again. 

The Union soldiers were taking a much-needed 
rest. They thought that Wheeler and his little band 
were fleeing for their lives through the woods and 
that it would be an easy matter to capture them 
during the day. All at once Wheeler's forces fell 
upon the astonished Federals and drove them back 
to Duck river. In a few hours the banks of that 
stream were lined with the dead bodies of the Union 
soldiers. The records show that in the battle of 
Shelbyville the Federals lost more than five hundred 
men, while the Confederates lost three hundred and 
eighty of their number. This is a fair sample of 
the way Southern men fought all the way through 
that dreadful war, and it is only one of "Fighting 
Joe Wheeler's" deeds of daring. 



THE FLAGSHIP TENNESSEE 

A Naval Battle in Mobile Bay 

THERE was never a commander more proud of 
his victorious troops than was Catesby R, 
Jones of the flagship Tennessee. In the navy yards 
at Sehna where three other big iron-clads were con- 
structed, Commander Jones superintended the mak- 
ing of the machinery and battery of the Tennessee. 
No better ships than these four Confederate war 
vessels were made anywhere at that time and they 
were made entirely of wood and iron from Ala- 
bama's own forests and mines. 

With the gunboat Selma, the Gaines and the 
Morgan, the Tennessee was sent down the river to 
guard the forts on Mobile Bay. General Page, in 
command of Fort Morgan, and Colonel Anderson at 
Fort Gaines hailed with joy the coming of the four 
men-of-war. The enemy also must have had a high 
opinion of the little fleet in Mobile Bay. For when 
they came to attack the forts they came with four- 
teen of the best war vessels in their navy. A furi- 
ous defense met them at Fort Morgan and Fort 
Gaines. One big vessel was sunk with one hundred 
and twenty Union men. 

After an hour's hard fighting the Federal fleet 
finally gained entrance to the bay. Then the four 
Alabama war vessels opened fire. Every gun on 

173 



174 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

both sides was kej^t busy for a while. The Selma 
was captured, the Morgan w^as forced to retreat uj) 
the bay, and the Gaines took shelter under the guns 
at Fort Morgan. But the Tennessee raised her 
proud head and dared the enemy to come on. For 
two hours Admiral Farragut's big guns boomed 
their fury against the one lone Southern ship. They 
attacked her from every direction, but her iron- 
clad sides resisted the shot and shell for two long 
hours. Then a shot penetrated her armour while an- 
other shot found its way to her steering apparatus 
and she was utterly disabled. Then the white flag 
went up from the Tennessee and Commodore Buch- 
anan, with his southern crew, surrendered. Only 
eight of his men were lost, while the enemy had 
fifty-two killed and one hundred and seventy 
wounded. The gallant Tennessee had done her 
noble best, but no vessel could withstand for long 
the guns from so many big war vessels. 



A KING OF THE HIGH SEAS 

Raphael Semmes, Commander of the "Alabama" 

THE plucky little ship, Sumter^ stood in the har- 
bor at Gibraltar shorn of her glory and bereft 
of her master. For six months that small vessel 
had represented the Confederate navy. She was 
named in honor of the first battle of the war and 
she had added glory to the name. 

In broad daylight, the Stimtcr had run the block- 
ade at the mouth of the Mississippi river. She had 
roamed the high seas and her noble crew had 
brought low the vessels of the enemy. Captain Ra- 
phael Semmes loved the Sumter as a good horseman 
loves his steed. Aboard the little vessel Semmes 
destroyed seventeen of the enemy's vessels. They 
called "him "The Sea Pirate." 

At last he slipped across the Atlantic and into 
the port at Gibraltar. But when the captain tried 
to secure coal enough to leave the port he was un- 
able to buy, beg, or borrow a single load of fuel. He 
thought that the Federal agents had arranged this 
plan to defeat him. But Raphael Semmes was not 
to be so easily defeated. Taking most of his crew 
with him, he went, to Liverpool, leaving his beloved 
cruiser at Gibraltar. An English company, the 
Lairds, agreed to build a gunboat for a considera- 
tion of $250,000. In a short time the boat was 

1?0 



176 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

ready and with the flag of England floating from 
her mast she steamed out of Liverpool harbor. In 
order to keep from violating the international laws 
the English ship builders arranged to turn the ves- 
sel over to the Confederates out upon the high seas. 
Because this ship was the 290th vessel built by the 
Lairds they called her the ''290." 

The arrangement for delivering the vessels to 
Semmes was this: The ''290" accompanied by an 
English vessel, the Bahama, sailed to the Azores 
Islands where the gunboat was to be turned over 
to the Confederates. There were about ninety men 
on the two vessels and the Bahama was to carry 
back to England the sailors who wished to return. 
Only ten of the number went back to England; the 
others chose to go with Semmes. 

On Sunday morning the "290" lay in the harbor 
of the Azores. In the early part of the day Admiral 
Semmes called his crew on deck, read to them his 
commission from President Jefferson Davis and 
also his orders from the Confederate Secretary of 
War, Mallory, to take charge of the gunboat. Just 
as Admiral Semmes finished reading the Confeder- 
ate flag was unfurled, to replace the flag of Eng- 
land, and to float over the famous battleship as 
long as she sailed the seas. The vessel was chris- 
tened The Alahama. Then the band played "Dixie" 
and the crew sent up cheer after cheer for their 
Southland and their leader. 

For two years Raphael Semmes and his gallant 
crew dashed from one port to another, chasing, cap- 



A KING OF THE HIGH SEAS 177 

tiiring and destroying the enemy's vessels. First at 
the Azores, then within two hundred miles of New 
York, thence to the shores of Texas, now around 
Cape Good Hope, then sweeping across the Atlantic 
and back again went this madcap seaman. He cap- 
tured more than fifty vessels, most of which he de- 
stroyed. He took loads of supplies and ammunition 
from enemy vessels and used them for the benefit 
of the Confederacy. Semmes wrought such havoc 
with the Federal commerce that the whole world 
watched to see what this daring adventurer would 
do. 

At last a vessel was built by the United States 
Government for the purpose of destroying the Ala- 
bama. The Kearsarge was not only a bigger boat 
but it was iron-clad as well. She set out in pur- 
suit of the Alabama and at last came upon her in 
French waters. Seven miles from the shores of 
Cherbourg, France, the Kearsarge waited. The Ala- 
bama remained in the harbor of the French port as 
long as the law allowed. Then Semmes knew that 
he must go forth to fight the enemy. In June, 
1864, on another Sunday morning, just two years 
after the Alabama was christened, she fought her 
last fight. 

When the Alabama left port the Kearsarge lay 
with her head off shore. But when the Confederate 
ship came within a mile of her the Kearsarge 
wheeled suddenly around and stood with her star- 
board battery threatening Semmes' wooden vessel. 
For an hour and ten minutes the two crews kept u}) 



178 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

a terrific battle. The iron chains which bound the 
sides of the Kearsarge saved her from destruction. 
But exploding shells finally struck through the sides 
of the AJahama and water began pouring into the 
ship. The sailors on board knew that the ship would 
sink and Semmes called out, ''Every man save him- 
self!" But the sailors stood calmly waiting for 
death. At this point, the Deerlioimd, an English 
vessel, came to the rescue of the Confederates. The 
owner, Mr. Lancaster, won the whole South 's grati- 
tude by his kindness to the crew of the Alabama. 
Ten sailors were drowned, twenty-one killed in bat- 
tle, and nine others were wounded, but the Deer- 
liound rescued the balance. 

Raphael Semmes and his first mate, Kell, stood 
on deck until the ship was ready to sink. Then they 
threw overboard their boots, coats and swords and 
jumped into the deep water. They swam far enough 
out from the vessel to avoid being drawn into the 
whirling water around the ship, then they stopped 
for a moment to look back at their beloved ship, 
AJahama. They rejoiced that she was going down 
instead of falling into the hands of the enemy. They 
watched her make her last struggle. ''I^ike a living 
thing in agony she threw her bow high out of the 
water, then descended stern foremost to her last 
resting place," Admiral Semmes wrote long after- 
wards. 

The friendly Beerlioimd received the ship's of- 
ficers as they climbed aboard after their narrow es- 
cape. They were welcomed joyously by forty sailors 



A KING OF THE HIGH SEAS 179 

who had also reached the English vessel. One of the 
sailors had brought, inside his shirt, the captain's 
valuable papers and he proudly returned them to 
his superior officer. After that 19th day of June, 
1864, Raphael Semmes received all the honors that 
the South could bestow upon him. British lords 
presented him with a sword as a token of their ad- 
miration. In the world's history he is reckoned as 
one of its greatest naval heroes. 



THE DAVID AND GOLIATH OF THE SEA 

The First Torpedo Boat 

THE DAVID was the name of Lieutenant Glas- 
sell's little "cigar torpedo boat." And, b}^ the 
way, this was the first torpedo boat ever made and 
it was built at Mobile, Alabama. The enemy's ship 
was not called ''The Goliath" but a Goliath she was 
when compared with the little David. 

About forty Federal vessels were stationed 
around the harbor at Charleston, South Carolina. 
Among them was the Ironsides, the biggest ship in 
the United States Navy. William T. Glassell de- 
cided to disable this ship and he proceeded to do so. 
One dark night he took a fireman, a pilot and an 
engineer and set out to torpedo the Federals' best 
boat. 

It was about nine o 'clock when the David started 
out on that desperate mission. The four men aboard 
steered the vessel through the line of Federal ships 
and no one tried to stop them until just before 
they reached the Ironsides, a voice liailed tluMu 
thi'ough the darkness. Glassell answered with a 
shot fi'om his gun. Two minutes later the David 
struck the big war vessel and the torpedo exploded 
six feet underneath its bottom. A column of water 
shot up and fell upon the frail bark, the David, j^ut- 
ting out all the fires. A rain of shot was fired at 

180 



THE DAVID AND GOLIATH OF THE SEA 181 

the torpedo boat, but none of the men were injured. 

During the struggle which followed Glassell and 
Sullivan were captured by the Federals. The pilot 
and the fireman managed to build enough fire in the 
engine of the David to carry them back up the chan- 
nel. Again the little David plowed its way between 
a line of enemy's ships and actually passed within 
three feet of the big vessel, the Monitor. A continu- 
ous fire from the enemy added zest to the retreat. 

The young Alabamian had not thought of dan- 
ger to himself when he decided to make that attack 
upon the enemy vessel, but when he found himself 
in the hands of the Federals he was not in the least 
surprised. They took him to Washington and sen- 
tenced him to be hanged, but the sentence was never 
carried out. After spending weeks in a northern 
prison he was exchanged for Federal prisoners and 
was then sent back to the South. He returned to 
his home, near Livingtson, Alabama, where he re- 
mained until he had partly recovered his strength. 
But the exposure and hardships of prison gave him 
lung trouble and he was never well again. The fact 
that he had disabled the biggest ship in the Federal 
navy cheered him through his long illness. How- 
ever, he was a very modest sort of hero who never 
boasted of the magnificent deed that he had per- 
formed. 



A BOY HERO 

Thomas Jones Shows His Courage 

THROUGH an unbroken forest, young Thomas 
G. Jones rode alone, carrying a message from 
General John B. Gordon to a portion of the army 
several miles awa}^ Night came on and the young 
officer was still in the forest and in the midst of 
Federal pickets. Just as might have been expected, 
a number of the Federals pounced upon the lone 
rider and held him captive. 

Along in the chilly part of the night young 
Jones, being a very likeable sort of fellow, with a 
smooth tongue and a persuasive manner, induced 
the nine Federals to stack their guns, build a fire 
and make themselves comfortable. No sooner were 
the guns laid aside than Thomas Jones took posses- 
sion of the arms, and with a quickness that was 
bewildering he forced the Union men to line up in 
front of him. AYithout further ado, the Southern 
boy marched the nine Northerners into General 
Gordon's camp and delivered them as prisoners of 
war. 

On another occasion, near the close of the war. 
General Gordon's forces were fighting around 
Petersburg. It became necessary to send an order 
across the most dangerous part of the field to the 
Southern troops in front. ''Who will carry this 

182 



A BOY HEEO 183 

order to the troops in fronts' asked General Gor- 
don. ' ' I will carry your order, General, ' ' answered 
Thomas G. Jones. Across the deadliest part of the 
field, with thousands of Northern soldiers in full 
view, Tom Jones rode like the wind with that order 
safely tucked away in his old gray coat. He came 
back, wounded and bleeding, but he came back just 
the same and reported to his general that the order 
had been delivered. It was this same brave lad who 
was selected by General Robert E. Lee to carry the 
message of surrender to the Northern general at 
Appomattox. 



KU KLUX KLAN 

Reconstruction Days in Alabama 

FIFTEEN hundred horsemen rode into Hunts- 
ville one day. White sheets covered the horses 
and the figures upon the horses. White masks with 
leering nose and eye holes covered the faces of the 
ghostly visitors. Not a word was spoken. The 
sheet-covered horsemen paraded the streets in si- 
lence and made figures that any well-drilled soldiers 
would have rejoiced to form. 

The carpet-baggers and "scalawags" who had 
assembled the ignorant negroes there to vote knew 
that the Ku Klux had arrived and the darkies were 
in a frenzy of fear. Whether it were the Ku Klux 
or just plain ghosts mattered not to them. Both 
were horrible and they were scared. Negro soldiers 
who had saluted so proudly the day before now 
dropped their guns, walled their eyes, and prayed 
for mercy. One excited black fired a shot into the 
crowd of spectators. A riot followed. The negroes 
began shooting right and left. Whom they shot they 
did not know. The white people standing around 
returned the shots and one i3rominent "scalawag" 
was kilk'd. All this time the ghouls were lined up, 
quietly looking on. They were merely there, that was 
all. It is safe to state that the colored population 
of Huntsville and the surrounding country stayed 

18 1 



KU KLUX KLAN 185 

at home that night. Two years later the Kii Klux 
Klan took the matter of law and order into their 
own hands. 

During the years of Reconstruction, Alabama, 
like other Southern states, suffered every possible 
hardship and humiliation that a band of official 
thieves could inflict. The few horses left in the 
South were taken; cotton crops were confiscated; 
homes of Southerners were searched without war- 
rants ; negro policemen were stationed on the streets 
where they insulted their former masters; white 
men who had served in the Confederate army were 
not allowed to vote. These Southerners were robbed 
of the necessities of life, while schools -and churches 
were built for negroes. And, worst of all, the blacks 
were inflamed with promises of riches and of equal- 
ity with white people. As one old negro expressed 
it, "The bottom rail was on top." 

It is generally thought that the idea of the 
Ku Klux originated in Pulaski, Tennessee. But 
Judge A. E. Caifey states positively that an organi- 
zation for the protection of white people from ne- 
groes and carpet-baggers existed in Alabama two 
months after the war ended. He says that "The 
Order of the White Camelia" was organized in Tus- 
keegee at that time and that he and Dr. Matt Rice 
were imprisoned for taking part. 

The Ku Klux Klan which originated at Pulaski- 
was at first a secret order having for its object 
the amusement and entertainment of its members. 
Gorgeous costumes, strange masks, and a remark- 



186 IIIS'I^OIJV STORIES OF ALABAMA 

able code of signals were adopted by the young men. 
They soon discovered that this ghostly performance 
was terrifying to the negroes. Then they told the 
darkies that they were ghosts of Confederate sol- 
diers come back to haunt bad negroes. They sent 
forth dismal wails and made dreadful sounds by 
rattling bones. About one wail and a slight rattle 
was all that was needed to send the darkies flying 
homeward. 

Young men from North Alabama went across 
the lines into Tennessee, witnessed the "curious 
gyrations" of the Ku Klux Klan and then came 
back home to organize a similar band. Before long 
this unusual form of fun-making spread throughout 
the South and it immediately began to have its ef- 
fect upon bigoted negroes. A solitary rider had 
only to ai^proach a League meeting of negroes when 
the gathering would vanish at once. 

In 1867, when outrages upon Southern people 
had reached the limit, an order was sent throughout 
the South calling the orders of the Ku Klux to meet 
in Nashville. There these clansmen formed tliem- 
selves into a serious organization for the purpose of 
driving out the carpet-baggers and of protecting 
women, children and property. The head of the Ku 
Klux Klan was called the Grand Cyclops. Then 
there was the Grand AVizard, with his ten Genii in 
<'acH district. There* wei-e Hydras, Furies, Giants, 
Goblins, and other officers (►f the Klan. Tlu* com- 
mon soldiei's were called Ghouls. Tnsoh'ut negroes 
were whipped; rascally officials were sent back 



KU KLUX KLAN 187 

North; and wlioii oifciiscs merited so severe a puii- 
islimeut, the olfeiider was shot or hanged by the 
clansmen. 

After a year or two a few vicious Southern men 
abused the ]3rivileges of the Kii Kltix government 
and a number of crimes w^ere committed in the name 
of the Klan. But after all the Ku Klux KJan was 
the only real law body in the South during the Re- 
construction days. 

United States soldiers w^ere often in sympathy 
with the clansmen and they were generally on good 
terms with all of the Southern people. The sol- 
diers usually managed to arrive just a little too 
late to see a misbehaving negro -or a "scalawag" 
punished by the ghostly night riders. No decent 
man could blame Southern gentlemen for protect- 
ing their homes and their property. And that was 
the object of the Ku Klux Klan. 



WHAT ONE BOY MADE OF HIMSELF 

How James Pugh Became "The Patrick Henry of Alabama" 

WHEN James Pugh came with his parents to 
Pike county he was onl}^ four years old. 
Knowing the customs of the times it is safe to say 
that the little fellow was still wearing dresses when 
he came in the covered wagon from Georgia to Ala- 
bama. 

Before James Lawrence Pugh was eleven years 
old both his parents died, leaving him alone in a 
new country. But James was a little man long be- 
fore he grew to be a big man. He had learned to 
cut weeds, feed horses, and drive the cows when he 
was a very small boy. And he knew that he could 
earn his board in a neighbor's house. So he went to 
work for one of his neighbors where he helped with 
the chores and made himself generally useful. At 
night he read and studied. Occasionally he went to 
school. 

In the course of a few years he was employed 
to carry the mail from Louisville to Franklin in 
Barbour county. Tn those days people did not ex- 
pect to receive their mail every day, for it took 
ten or twelve days for a letter to come from New 
York to Alabama and several days for mail to go 
from one town to another in the same state. Dur- 
ing the y6ars that James Pugh carried the mail 

188 



WHAT ONE BOY MADE OF HIMSELF 189 

there were unfriendly Indians lurking in the woods. 
One of the first questions the men asked the young 
mail rider when he reached town was, ''Did you see 
anything of the Indians'?" Sometimes the boy an- 
swered, "I certainly did and if it had not been for 
my pony they might have my scalp right now." 
More than once the savages started in pursuit of 
Pugh, riding alone through the woods, but his tough 
little horse carried the young master out of danger 
every time. 

The white people were determined to move all 
the Indians to the West. The Red Men felt that 
this land belonged to them and they were very bit- 
ter about leaving the home that had been theirs for 
centuries. So during the years 1835-36 there was 
a terrible uprising among the Indians, and Alabama 
settlers suffered. But finally the troubles were set- 
tled by the government and the Indians bade fare- 
well to their old homes and started westward. 

James Pugh was a man in size and almost one 
in years when he went to Eufaula to work in a store. 
There he stayed for four years, working during the 
day and poring over law books at night. At that 
time Eufaula was one of the leading trading places 
in Alabama. "Prairie Schooners" traveled back 
and forth from Georgia, Florida and South Ala- 
bama, bringing farm products and carrying back 
groceries, drygoods and farm supplies. A "Prairie 
Schooner" was a covered wagon usually drawn by 
four big mules. Sometimes fifty or sixty of them 
went along together. They took the place of the 
freight trains of today. 



190 HISTOHY STOKIES OF ALABAMA 

People traveled in stage coaches or in steam- 
boats. Two or three times a week coaches drawn 
by four or six horses left Eufaula and made the 
journey to Columbus, Georgia, to Fort Gaines, or 
to Tallahassee, Florida. Steamboats plied up and 
down the Chattahoochee river, biinging groceries 
from New Orleans. Goods bought in New York 
were sent South in ships and were then brought up" 
the river on steamboats to the "Bluff City" on the 
Chattahoochee. So you see that Eufaula had reason 
to be prosperous and it is not surprising that the 
first railroad which came into South Alabama should 
have run into Eufaula from Columbus, Georgia. 

Long before the railroads came and while the 
prairie schooners came and went from l)usy little 
Eufaula, James Pugh left the store where he was 
employed and went into the law office of the dis- 
tinguished John Gill Shorter, Just twenty years 
after the four-year-old boy moved to Alabama with 
his parents, James Lawrence Pugh was admitted to 
the Bar and began the practice of law. When 3^011 
learn that he was taken into partnership with Jef- 
ferson Buford and E. C. Bullock, both giants in 
their profession, you will realize what a successful 
lawyer the young mail rider became. 

Of course James Pugh enlisted in 'the Confeder- 
ate army and he entered as a private, although he 
was a prominent man at that time. But he was 
willing to share the hardships of his felloAV men. 
During the last three years of the wai' he served as 
a member of the Confederate Congress. But it was 



WHAT 0?^E BOY MADE OF HIMSELF 191 

during the dark days of the Reconstruction that he 
proved himself a power. 

It would take a long story to tell 3'ou how James 
Pugh and other brave Southern men placed Gover- 
nor George S. Houston in office, in spite of the 
"Scalawags," and how the dear old state crept back 
into peace and prosperity after Reconstruction days 
were over. So fearless and so active was James 
Pugh and so valuable were his services that his 
friends called him "the Patrick Henry of Ala- 
bama." 



THE BIRTH OF BIRMINGHAM 

How John T. Milner Laid the Foundation for the Great Town 

ON his way to Montgomery from Tennessee, 
Frank Gilmer crossed Red Mountain in Jef- 
ferson county. As he rode along the young man 
noticed a peculiar sort of rock on the hillsides. He 
alighted from his horse and filled his pockets 
with them. After he reached Montgomery, Gilmer 
showed them to his friends and told them about the 
reddish dust which covered the roads and clung to 
his horse's hoofs. "You have crossed a mountain 
of iron," Gilmer was told, "and every rock you have 
in your pocket is iron ore." 

This seemed very remarkable to the young teacher 
from Tennessee and he put the stones away. Then 
he found himself a position in a school until he 
could secure more profitable employment. Gradually 
Frank Gilmer worked himself into a comfortable 
home with a big farm and a number of slaves. In 
fact, ten years after his arrivals he was considered 
one of the wealthiest farmers in Montgomery coun- 
ty. All during those years he was dreaming of a 
j'ailroad that he hoped to build from Montgomery 
to Nashville through the rich mineral region of 
Alabama. Of course one man with only a small for- 
tune could not build a railroad. But Gilmer talked 
and planned for his road that would open up the 

192 



THE BTKTH OF BIRMINGHAM 193 

mineral lands of the state until he succeeded in in- 
teresting other men in the undertaking. 

When his ideas were presented to the Legisla- 
ture of 1840 they would have nothing to do with the 
jjlans. They said that macadamized roads were 
safer than railroads, less liable to accident and less 
expensive. So they voted to build good dirt roads 
instead of railroads. Several years later another 
Legislature met and listened with interest to talk 
of a new railroad. A charter was gxanted for the 
load and $10,000 appropriated by the Legislature 
for making the sui'veys. Frank Gilmer thought 
til en that his dream of a railroad through the min- 
eral region of Alabama was at last coming true. 

Difficulties of the Young Engineer 

Governor A. B. Moore began at once looking for a 
competent man to do the surveying for the proposed 
road bed. "John Turner Milner is the very man," 
some one told the Governor. A messenger was sent 
to find Milner who was making a survey about thirty 
miles below Montgome^3^ When the messenger told 
Milner that he had been appointed chief engineer 
of the new railroad the young engineer jumped on 
his horse and rode the thirty miles to the Capitol. 
He wore neither coat nor hat; his trousers were 
torn and his leggings were split; his face needed 
washing and his hair was shaggy, but be sprang 
from his horse's back and strode into the Governor's 
presence, thinking of nothing except the great work 
that he hoped to do. Governor Moore arose courte- 



104 HISTOin' STORIES OF ALABAMA 

ously as Milner entered the office, looked the young 
gentleman over, then said with a smile, "Is this the 
young man I have appointed chief engineer of our 
great road?" "That is what I have been told," 
John T. Milner replied. Then he realized what an 
appearance he presented. "Well, it looks to me, 
Mr. Milner, as if the first thing we had better do is 
get you some new breeches." The chief engineer 
laughed and said he thought so too. 

In March, 1858, the South and North Railroad 
Company was organized and the first steps were 
taken toward building the road. John T. Milner 
was told to make the survey and then report the 
cost of construction ; the nature of the country to be 
crossed ; the value of the minerals along the way ; 
and upon other matters of importance. Milner un- 
dertook this big task with joy and enthusiasm. He 
worked month in and month out. He rode over the 
entire country that was to be the road bed for the 
North and South railroad and he studied the coun- 
try and the minerals in the earth. 

At last he brought his report to the state Legis- 
lature and asked that it be printed. The informa- 
tion contained in Milner 's report laid the foundation 
for all the railroad building and mineral develop- 
ment that came later. But the Legislature knew 
very little about such matters at that time, and 
they thought that Milner 's plans were exti'avagant. 
After much debate it was finally decided that his 
plans were worth considering and that his report 
should be printed. The young surveyor was over- 



THE BIRTH OF BIEMINGHAM 195 

joyed when lie learned that his report had been ap- 
proved and that it would be published. "That was 
the turning point in my life and the beginning of 
Birmingham," he said afterward. 

In 1860 the money was appropriated for build- 
ing the road that Milner had mapped out. Accord- 
ing to the blue j^rint the road began at Montevallo, 
went to Blount Springs, thence to Grace's Gap on 
Red Mountain, and then north to Decatur. The 
road was completed across the Cahaba coal fields 
when the war broke out and stopped the work. Dur- 
ing the war the Confederate government built sev- 
eral miles of track so that coal and iron could be 
hauled from the mines for making munitions of 
war. 

The Trick That Didn't Work 

At the close of the four years' war Frank Gilmer 
gathered up the remnants of his force and began 
work again upon the poor, little railroad that wound 
its way through Alabama's mineral belt. Gilmer 
had never stopped working for this new railroad. 
While Milner was surverying the land and even 
after the war broke out Gilmer kept right on. Some 
of the stockholders became discouraged and wished 
to sell their stock. Gilmer was so sure that the road 
would succeed that he bought the stock which others 
thought woi'thless. 

For ten years after the war Alabama suffered 
with the rest of the South from carpet-bagger gov- 
ei'nment. Among the men who came to the state 
during the Reconstruction days was a person named 



lOfi 



mS'lOUY ST(JH1ES OF ALABAMA 



Stanton. John Stanton was sent by the United 
States government to take charge of affairs in Ala- 




AriiAiiu's 1)i;i:a.m hkalizkd — tui;mtngtt.\ai's (iitAxn caxyox 

hania and lie seemed to think that a large share of 
the state belonged to him personally. He dismissed 



THE BIETPT OF BTEMTNGHAM 197 

Frank Gilmer and placed another man in his posi- 
tion as president of the North and Sonth Railroad. 
John Milner was kept as chief engineer, but he was 
hampered by lack of money and by the lawmakers 
who interfered wath all of his plans. A very crooked, 
zig-zag little road w^as the result. It cost the Louis- 
ville and Nashville railroad thousands of dollars to 
straighten the road in later years. 

Now, during all that ten years which John Mil- 
ner spent in working for the North and South rail- 
road he was turning another plan over in his mind. 
It was to build a big workshop town in the valley 
below Red Mountain. He hoped to organize a com- 
pany that w^ould buy up a large tract of land in 
Jones' Valley, lay off lots, sell them to newcomers 
and then induce rich men to come into the town and 
open up new industries. The coal and the iron of 
the district made this plan quite possible. 

Another company was building the Alabama 
and Chattanooga Railroad. Stanton controlled this 
crowd and they too were planning to build a city 
wdiere Oxmoor now stands. Milner and Stanton 
then agreed that they would build one big city to- 
gether where the two railroads crossed. The site 
was found for the city and they took up options on 
nearly seven thousand acres of land in Jones' Valley 
near Village Creek. The work was well under way 
when all at once Milner heard that Stanton had 
broken his agreement and had decided to build a 
city himself. One morning just as the engineer was 
finishing breakfast a friend came riding into camp 



]08 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

and brought the news of Stanton's scheme. Stanton 
had changed the route of liis I'oad so that it would 
not cross the North and South Railroad but instead 
would run toward Elyton. Furthermore, he had 
taken up options on all the land around Elyton 
where he intended to build his town. 

Stanton knew that Milner and his friends did 
not have the money to buy the seven thousand acres 
of land near Village Creek so he was not worrying 
about that part of the deal. Every man concerned 
was simply dumfounded. Frank Gilmer, Daniel 
Pratt, Alburto Martin, Bayliss Grace, James Powell 
and a score of other men whose names are in Ala- 
bama history waited in agony of spirit to see what 
the outcome would be. They waited sixty long days, 
then they waited for three days of grace to expire. 
That was the time that Stanton had in which to close 
the trade for the seven thousand acres in Jones' 
Valley. 

The last minute of the last day found the stock- 
holders of the South and North Railroad gathered 
in Josiah Morris's bank waiting for the blow to fall. 
But it did not fall. Exactly (me minute after the 
time expired the bankei", Josiah Morris, handed out 
of the window one hundred thousand dollars to the 
man who had planned the big workshop town below 
Red Mountain. Cheer ixiU'v cheei" went up from 
that group of Southern men. Stanton and his crowd 
were beaten. They had felt so sure that ^lilner's 
friends would not raise the money to buy the tract 
of land in Jones' Vallev that thev had carelesslv 



THE BIRTH OF BIRMINGHAM 199 

' neglected to secure the land themselves. Milner and 
his friends could buy the seven thousand acres, after 
all, for the banker furnished the money and John 
T. Milner 's dream-city was coming true. 

At the second meeting of the stockholders one 
gentleman asked, "What shall we name the city?" 
"Powelltown," said one. "Milnerville," another 
suggested. ''Morrisville," still another said. When 
John Mudd's friend mentioned "^luddtown" they 
objected to that name because it was so appropriate. 
Josiah Morris thought of the big mining center in 
England and said, "Call the city Birmingham." So 
Birmingham it was christened. It grew and waxed 
strong. It earned the name of "The Magic City" 
and then outgrew that name. For Birmingham is 
no longer a boom town but a substantial center of a 
wonderful mineral region. It is often called "The 
Pittsburgh of the South." 

The Greatness of the Resources of "The Pittsburgh of the 

South" 

If today at dusk, you could stand on top of Red 
Mountain and watch the lights come on all over 
"Greater Birmingham" there would probably come 
to you a strange feeling of wonder, excitement and 
pride. Just as far as the eye can see lights flash 
from factories, stores, office buildings and homes. 
Here, there and everywhere are the smoke stacks of 
furnaces, foundries and rolling mills. Furnaces 
where pig iron is made, manufacturing plants of 
every kind, and an endless mass of buildings of 



200 



lUSTOHY STOIJII'^S OF ALABAMA- 



every size and description gives you a vague idea of 
the "big workshop town" in Jefferson county. 

While you stand there a fiery red light appears 
in the sky above the city. One of the many furnaces 
is "making a run." That means that a great stream 
of red hot molten iron is pouring from a tremendous 
vat down into a huge trough and thence into the 
smaller ditches that branch in every direction. The 
iron, the coal and the limestone used in making this 




SCENE OF ALABAMA STEEL 



pig iron all come from the hillsides that surround 
Birmingham. 

One day a Birmingham man stood on Red Moun- 
tain looking over the district. "This hill," he said, 
"upon which we are standing is one mass of iron. 
It is a thousand feet high and the iron .goes down 
no one knows how deep. It runs all along the side 
of the valley. Those hills over there on the opposite 
side are composed of good coking coal a;nd between 
the coal and iron is the c^reat bed of limestone. We 



THE BIETH OF BIRMINGHAM 201 

can run the coal and iron down the hills to the fur- 
naces and the limestone lies right at hand. There 
are^iron and coal mines running for miles along the 
two sides of the valley and there are steel making 
plants going up everywhere. There are scores of 
furnaces and I can stand on the top of any one of 
them and with a common rifle can shoot into a bed 
of coal, iron or limestone without turning around." 

The steel plants of the Birmingham district 
played an important part in the war with Germany. 
The demand for steel rails, steel cars, motor trucks, 
barbed wire, powder tanks, steel shells, camp equip- 
ment and various munitions of war taxed the steel 
plants to their limit. 

When the United States Steel Corporation took 
over the big plant of the Tennessee Coal, Iron and 
Railroad Company at Ensley, they spent $32,000,000 
for improvements. A few months later $11,000,000 
more were spent in enlarging the plant so that the 
government's orders would be filled rapidly. And 
that is just one of the many plants that worked di- 
rectly or indirectly for the government during the 
war. In 1915, before war was declared the annual 
output of steel in the district was 715,485 tons ; that 
of iron was more than two million tons. While more 
than fifteen million tons of coal were produced. 

Greater Birmingham is twenty miles long, six 
miles wide and has a population of more than two 
hundred thousand. So you see that Milner's dream 
of a big workshop town not only came true but the 
town grew to be a large and wealthy city. 



A TALE OF TWO CITIES 

The Founding of Anniston and of Jacksonville 

NOT very far from Anniston in Calhoun county 
is an old furnace site where one of the first 
furnaces in the state was built. It was situated on 
Cane Creek in what was then Benton county and 
bore the name of Polkville Iron Furnace. Its build- 
ers were Moore and Shepperd. Noah Goode was the 
young superintendent who conducted the business 
for a number of years. The iron was hauled with 
teams to Wetumpka until the plant was destroyed 
by Federal soldiers during the War of Secession. 

After the war Noah Goode with Dan Crow and 
E. G. Morris built a foundry on the same site and in 
this they were successful for a while. Although the 
only signs left of the old furnace and foundry is a 
pile of debris under the brushwood these crude 
plants were the forerunners of the big iron works 
for which Anniston is now noted the country over. 

Sam Noble and Daniel Tyler were the men who 
really built Anniston. While the War of Secession 
was going on all of the iron that could possibly be 
mined was made into supplies for the army. Sam 
Noble's father and brothers were making iron at 
Rome, Georgia, while he was suj^erintending the 
iron works in Cherokee county, Alabama. He was a 
giant in strength. He often worked all day in his 

203 



A TALE OF TWO CITIES ' 203 

iron works, rode forty miles during the night to 
Rome and was back again next morning by sunrise 
at his Cherokee county foundry. 

The ruins of an old furnace which was burned by 
the Federals stood on the road which Sam Noble 
traveled as he went back and forth to Rome. It 
was surrounded by a beautiful country and Noble 
often looked longingly upon the rich lands there- 
about. One day as he rode with a friend by the 
place he said, "If I am ever able to build a town 
that is the spot I shall choose." 

The end of the war found Sam Noble in the same 
condition that all Southern men experienced. The}^ 
were penniless, homeless and without means of mak- 
ing a support. He, however, gathered up samples 
of iron ore, took them to New York and succeeded 
in interesting Northern capitalists in the mineral 
wealth of Alabama. They were induced to furnish 
enough money to buy the old furnace site, together 
with one hundred thousand acres of land, but that 
was not enough for Noble's plan. 

Sam Noble made another trip, later on, this time 
to South Carolina to see Alfred Tyler. When he 
arrived at Tyler's office the younger man's father 
happened to be there, also. Daniel Tyler was sev- 
enty years old, but his business sense was just as 
good as ever. He listened to what the Alabama man 
said about the minerals in his state. Then the old 
man said, "If I can find property that has every- 
thing on it for making iron without buying raw ma- 
terial elsewhere I might be tempted to go into busi- 



201 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

ness again." "You will find iron ore, limestone, 
and coal all there together on my land," Sam Noble 
said. A few weeks later the elder Tyler made the 
trip to Alabama through the country. When he ar- 
rived there was no place to sleep except a little 
shack and not a home comfort of any sort was there. 
But he accepted conditions without complaint and 
really enjoyed riding around over the rich mineral 
lands with the younger man. By the end of his 
visit he was so impressed by the richness of the min- 
eral region that he invested a large sum of money 
in Noble's scheme to build a town. 

The Woodstock Iron Company was formed with 
Alfred Tyler as president. The Tyler money was 
used to develop the town which grew up around the 
furnace. Mrs. Alfred Tyler's name was Annie and 
it was in her honor that the town was named Annis- 
ton. 

The first white settler in the territory now occu- 
pied by the city of Anniston was James Teague who 
came with his wife from Georgia. It was in 1828 
when Teague drove his ox-team across the hills and 
pitched his tent among the Indians at Woodstock 
Spring. His tent was built of brush and of quilts 
vvhich his wife had made before she left her father's 
home in Georgia. In the course of time Teague 
built a small log cabin above the spring and cleared 
a tract of land on which to grow food for his table. 
Settlers began to gather around him and his fam- 
ily made friends with the Indians. Before many 
years a comfortable neighborhood grew up around 
old Woodstock Spring. 



A TALE OF TWO CITIES 205 

About two years before Teagiie settled in his 
Alabama home Christie Green built two log store 
rooms in what is now the town of Jacksonville. 
Green sold trinkets and other things to the Indians 
who camped near the big spring. The Indians were 
already disposing of their land rights for they knew 
that they must soon go to the far west. Christie 
Green was a shrewd business man and he took an 
active part in the first real estate deals in which the 
white people of that section were concerned. From 
this small beginning grew the beautiful old town of 
Jacksonville which was for a long time the county 
seat of what was formerly Benton county. Now it 
is in Calhoun county and Anniston is the county 
seat. In Jacksonville there are now thriving indus- 
tries and beautiful homes where the first rude cabins 
stood. A splendid Normal school for the training of 
^teachers is also located in this beautiful little city. 
Here in Jacksonville you will find almost every- 
thing that makes life pleasant and satisfactory. 

Besides being the scene of many interesting 
events in the history of the early white settlers Cal- 
houn county is quite famous in Indian history. In 
the northeastern part of the county there is a stream 
called "Ball Play Creek" which runs through the 
lands called "Ball Play." Here in the days of the 
Red Men the braves gathered for sport. They gam- 
bled away their land rights on games played by 
tribal teams. While the men played or gambled on 
the game the squaws cultivated small tracts of corn 
and kept the home fires burning. 



206 HISTOin' STORIES OF ATABAMA 

Near Oxford, there is a small lake known as 
Blue Pond about which there is a legend that may 
or may not be true. It is said that long ago when a 
band of Creek Indians were camped at the spring 
near the place where the pond is now, two spotted 
children upon whom the whole tribe looked with awe 
and suspicion had been born in the camp. It was 
determined in Council that these poor children 
should be cast into the fire in order to avert the 
curse which the savages believed the Great Spirit 
was threatening to send upon them. Word went 
forth that a dance was to be held on a certain day 
on the spot now covered by the waters of Blue Pond. 
This place was then a regular assembly ground. A 
great feast was to be enjoyed at the close of which 
the two children who bore the leopard spots were to 
be burned. 

The dance proceeded and the Indians were get- 
ting ready for the horrible sacrifice. But the pro- 
gram was suddenly interrupted by the caving in of 
the earth beneath the feet of the dancei'S. Chiefs, 
wari'iors, spotted children and all were hurled to 
their death and buried underneath the ground. The 
water that now forms Blue Pond rose above them, 
making a lake that is seventy-five feet deep. 

A tall pine ti'ee that stood near the center of the 
assembly grounds was thrown top downward, leav- 
ing the roots standing slightly above the water's sur- 
face. This tree stood there for more than a hun- 
dred years. Men who were boys during the War of 



A TALE OF TWO CITIES 307 

1861 declared that they had scrambled on the roots 
of this tree while bathing in the pond. 

Some folks say that they have seen in the waters 
of this pond, two spotted fish, with queer shaped 
heads, and those who believe in mermaids and water 
sprites think the spotted fish somehow represent the 
poor little Indian babies whom the big Indians 
planned to dqstroy. 

Less than a hundred years after Indian warriors 
with their families camped on the grounds near An- 
niston, Oxford, and Jacksonville, American soldiers 
camped during their training for the War with 
Germany. With seventy-five thousand khaki-clad 
men preparing for the struggle across the sea, Camp 
McClellan bore no resemblance to the Red Men's 
camping grounds. But Calhoun county shared 
largely in these widely different happenings. 

Drill grounds, company streets, barracks, kit- 
chens, officers' quarters, and warehouses were alive 
with the tremendous effort to rush soldiers to the 
battle fields of Europe. While furnaces, foundries, 
rolling mills, machine shops and munition plants 
roared forth their tale of work well done for our 
country. It was no small part which Governor 
Kilby's home town and home coimty played in the 
greatest of all world events. 



HOYT SMITH 

A Bare Foot Boy who made Opportunities 

HOYT SMITH bundled up his few belongiugs 
into a bag, swung the bundle across his shoul- 
der upon a stick and set out, bareboot, to tramp his 
way to the outside world and to fame. The boy had 
lived with his cousin on a little Clay county farm, 
near Talladega, since his mother's death, but he was 
now sick of the farm work and the monotony of 
his life. The only town that he knew anything 
about, besides Talladega where he was born, was 
Oxford. So he walked the thirty miles to Oxford 
where he arrived without a penny. 

He soon called on a merchant and planter in Ox- 
ford whom he knew, told him the truth about his 
finances and asked for work. "Son, I have no work 
that you can do," said the kindly merchant. "But 
I must have a job, Mr. Gunnells," Hoyt declared. 
"I know how to attend to horses and cows and how 
to work on a farm. I can chop wood, build fires in 
your house and do anything that needs to be done." 
"Well, then, I guess T shall have to try you," said 
Mr. Gunnells. "But the only work I have that you 
can do is hard, dirty work." "That's the kind T am 
used to," Hoyt replied. So Mr. Gunnells showed 
the boy the barn yard and told him to clean it. 

208 



HOYT SMITH 209 

The hateful task was finished in such a short 
time that the merchant thought the boy had slighted 
his work. ''It is impossible," the man said to him- 
self. "A strong man could not have done it in so 
short a time." But the merchant was agreeably 
surprised when he went to inspect the work. An- 
other hard job was finished with the same speed and 
thoroughness, and Hoyt Smith won a place in the 
business man's heart. The bo_y worked all that year 
on the farm, living with his employer's family and 
learning all that he could from these cultured 
people. 

The country lad had an idea that people went 
to school to learn English grammar and he kept 
wondering how he could manage to go to school so 
that he might learn to speak correctly. Finally he 
told his employer that he wished above all things to 
go to school. Mr. Gunnells arranged for him to go 
to school 'half the year and work the other half. So 
one day Hoyt Smith entered the school where Pro- 
fessor John L. Dodson presided. He informed the 
teacher that he had come to study English gram- 
mar and at the same time presented an old tattered 
grammar that was out of date even at that early 
time. 

Unfortunately, the new pupil had to begin the 
study of grammar with an advanced class and the 
lessons were hard in the- middle of the book where 
he started. But he studied as no boy ever studied 
in that school before. He led his class and one night 
just before his first examination he studied all 



210 HLSTOK'Y STOKIES OF ALABAMA 

night long. Professor Dodson was so surprised he 
asked, "Hoyt, when did you find time to learn all 
this?" "I finished it about daylight this morning," 
was the answer. Hoyt Smith's success in school 
was not limited to grammar. His brilliant mind 
took hold of everything and he outstripped all of 
his classmates. 

In the course of time Hoyt Smith began think- 
ing of better opportunities and a bigger world. He 
remembered his step-father and three half-sisters 
who moved to San Francisco and he recalled the 
fact that his step-father was an educator. "Surely 
a young man could find his big chance in the Golden 
West," he thought. His benefactor agreed to lend 
him two lunidred dollars for the long journey and 
the young fellow set out to go to San Francisco. 

He was delighted with his kinsfolk he found 
there and he loved the beautiful California coun- 
try, but that two hundred dollar debt weighed on 
his mind. He went to work at once and saved every 
nickel he could until he repaid Mr. Gunnells who 
had loaned him the money without so much as a 
note of security. As soon as the debt was paid 
Hoyt entered college. His strides in education were 
so remarkable that in two years' time he had grad- 
uated with honors from one of the best colleges in 
California. A few years later he Avent with his 
young wif(> to Harvard whei'e he took a course in 
law and finished as usual at the head of his class. 
When Hoyt Smith delivei-ed his class declamation 
an eminent lawver was in the audience. He was so 



HOYT SMITH 211 

impressed by the young graduate's intellect and 
power that he immediately offered him a partner- 
ship in his big law hrm in New York. 

It was about this time that the young lawyer 
decided to change his name. His father whose 
name was Smith had brought shame upon the boy 
and his sweet, lovely mother when Hoyt was a lit- 
tle baby and the boy had never forgiven him. The 
mother's name was Lucy De Friese, so the son took 
the name of Hoyt De Friese. 

Hoyt De Friese was sent to London by his firm 
as their chief counsellor where, it is said, he was 
often called upon for advice by Queen Victoria of 
England. As a lawyer of superior ability he be- 
came known on two continents and he was regarded 
by many as the greatest of all international lawyers. 

This story of a genius was first recorded by J. A. 
Roberson of Anniston, a well known writer. Mr. 
Roberson says, "Hoyt De Friese never lost his 
poise of mind and character. He was never puffed 
up by his success. The friends of his childhood 
were never forgotten and they all rejoice in the 
splendid achievements of the once barefoot boy of 
Clay county wlio forged his way to success." 



CHARLES VAN DEPOELE'S GREAT 
INVENTION 

Montgomery Has the First Electric Street Car 

UP Court Street iu Moutgomery, at three o'clock 
in the morning came the. astonishing spectacle 
of a street car propelled by electricity. That was 
in 1886, when the first successful experiments with 
electric street cars were being made. Charles Van 
Depoele, a Belgian inventor, had been at work on 
his wonderful invention for five years or more, 
when Joseph A. Gaboury became interested in try- 
ing out an electric street car in the capital city of 
Alabama. 

Mr. Gaboury went to Chicago to investigate this 
"new-fangled idea," which most people declared 
''dangerous." He became so enthused over Van 
Depoele 's experiments that he asked the inventor 
to come to Montgomery and make an experiment 
on the street cars of that, place. So it came about 
that J. A. Gaboury, his son, Charles Van Depoele 
and a number of Montgomery men and women 
stayed awake one night, when everyone should have 
been asleep, in order to try the new electric street 
car. Van Depoele himself acted as motorman, the 
young son of Mr. Gaboury turned on the current. 
With a startling and most inspiring sort of noise, 
the car leaped forward. It glided up Court street 
to Grove, then across to Hull. After going three 
blocks up Hull street the excited passengers en- 
joyed the lide Imck to town. 

212 



CHARLES VAN DEPOELE'S INVENTION 213 

Miss Tuccoa Cozart, an Alabama writer and edu- 
cator, was among the passengers on that early 
morning ride. She says that the watches of the 
passengers were magnetized, despite the fact that 
the motor was walled in on the front of the car, to 
shut out the danger, and that the motorman wore 
rubl)er gloves. 

i\liss Cozart related the story of Gov, Thoinas 
Seaj^'s riding down Dexter avenue on a fine white 
horse, which was instantly killed when his iron 
shoes touched the street car tracks on Court Square. 
After that, she said, numbers of mules and horses 
were killed by the current- in the tracks. Then the 
people of the city held an indignation meeting, say- 
ing that it was an outrage for a trail of death like 
that to be allowed in the city. Then Mr. Van 
Depoelc had to invent some method of running 
street cars in safety. 

Several cities claim the distinction of having 
operated the first ielectric street cars, among them 
Richmond, Virginia, but Alabama historians say, 
"Joseph A. Gaboury is distinguished as having con- 
structed the first practical and , successful electric 
street railway system in the United States." In 
1887, there were eleven miles of electric street car 
track used in Montgomery, which was much more 
than any other city had built. There are still many 
people in the Capital City who remember the ex- 
citement and the thrills of their first ride, and the 
fear of being electrified which was justly felt. That 
was the beginning of great events in the world, and 
Alabama is rather proud of her share of the glory. 



THE HERO OF THE MERRIMAC 



Richmond P. Hobson in the Spanish-American War 



W 




ITHIN the liarbor at Santiago cle Cuba the 
Spanish Admiral, Cervera, waited with his 
fleet. There was nothing else to be done. For just 
outside Santiago Bay the Ameri- 
can sailors stood at their guns 
ready and anxious to fire upon the 
first Spaniard who showed him- 
self. 

Tlie only way a ship could pass 
from the sea into the port of San- 
tiago was through a narrow chan- 
nel to the ba,y and thence into the 
harbor. Steep hills come down to 
the mouth of the harbor on both 
sides. On one of these hills was an old Spanish 
fort, Morro Castle, and on the other side were Span- 
ish earthworks. Such was the situation while the 
American sailors blockaded the Cuban seaport, San- 
tiago. 

The Americans did not rush through the chan- 
nel and across the six-mile bay, for that would have 
meant the useless sacrifice of American lives. The 
Spaniards did not come forth because they knew 
better. So there the American soldiers had to stay 
to keep the blockade. This was during the Spanish- 

214 



I II I V. im IIMOND 
J'. J[OBSON 



THE HEEO OF THE MEREIMAC 215 

American War in 1898. The whole United States 
was indignant because it was thought that Spain 
had destroyed an American vessel, the Maine. "Re- 
member the Maine'' was the slogan of the war. 

The Maine really had been sunk in the harbor 
at Havana and a number of lives were lost. Then 
the United States Army was sent to drive the Span- 
ish rule from Cuba and to relieve those suffering 
Cubans from the cruelties which the Spaniards had 
inflicted ui3on them for years. Several battles had 
been fought before Admiral Sampson thought of 
bottling up Cervera's fleet in Santiago Bay. Ad- 
miral Sampson suggested the idea to Lieutenant 
Richmond Pearson Hobson of Alabama. "If one 
of our ships could be sunk in the narrow channel 
that leads to the bay," said the Admiral, "then it 
would be impossible for the Spanish fleet to come 
out. Our blockade could be removed from Santiago 
and the American fleet used to make an attack else- 
where." 

Lieutenant Hobson had spent years in studying 
the science of ship building and he was something 
of a genius in the operation of vessels. Therefore 
he was selected to prepare the plans for sinking the 
Merrimac in the channel. This the young officer did 
and when his j^lans were ready they were submitted 
to Admiral Sampson who approved them at once. 
Then Lieutenant Hobson asked for the privilege of 
sinking the Merrimac himself. 

The plan was simple enough, although it looked 
like certain death to the men who should undertake 



316 HJSTOIJY STORIES OF ALABA:\IA 

it. The Merrimac was to be taken into the channel, 
right in point bhmk range of the Spaniards' guns. 
There she was to be anchored lengthwise across the 
channel and torpedoed. The only means of escape 
for the sailors was a small boat which would have 
to pass through the fire of the enemy's guns. All of 
this was explained to the three thousand men gath- 
ered on deck to hear Hobson's plans. When the 
officers asked for volunteers to assist in the danger- 
ous undertaking the entire three thousand men vol- 
unteered. Great was the disappointment when only 
nine were chosen to go. 

The Merrimac was at once stripped of every- 
thing valuable. Torpedoes were fastened to the 
starboard side and connected with electric wires on 
deck. It was understood that when the vessel should 
swing slowly across the channel the men were to 
touch off the torpedoes, leap overboard, crawl into 
the small boat and row for their lives. 

About midnight of the second da,v of June the 
Merrimac was on her way to the sacrifice. She 
entered the channel and plowed on toward her doom. 
Suddenly the Spaniards began firing upon hei'. 
From a picket boat a Spanish soldier aimed his 
rapid fire gun at the rudder and steering gear of 
the Merrimac. Then a mighty cannonade^ from the 
Spanish guns on the shore began. Tlic men aboard 
the American vessel made heroic efforts to carry out 
instructi(ms, but all of H()l)son's plans were upset 
whil(; the Spaniards kept up their firing. Tor- 
])ed<)es' were -exploded underneath the hull of the 



THE HERO OF THE MERRIMAC 217 

Merrmiac and she finally went down. She sank in 
such a manner that the channel was only partl}^ 
blocked but this proved more effectual than a com- 
plete blockade. For, later on, the Spanish ships 
ventured through that narrow opening, one at a 
time, whereupon Admiral Schley calmly captured 
every one of them. ♦ 

The heroes of the Merrimac escaped death by a 
miracle. They sj^ent the rest of that night in the 
cold waters of the channel. At daybreak a Spanish 
vessel steamed into sight. Admiral Cervera was 
aboard the launch. He immediately took on board 
the half-dead Americans, saw that they were 
warmed, fed and clothed. They were treated with 
respect until they were sent as prisoners of war to 
Morro Castle. Hobson and his men were in Morro 
Castle when the place Avas bombarded. Mortar and. 
bricks fell all around them and the firing was dan- 
gerously close, but somehow they escaped death 
again. The American army took possession of the 
town after a lively battle and the heroes of the 
Merrimac were exchanged for Spanish prisoners. 
It was Admiral Schley who said of Richmond Pear- 
son Hobson, "His name will live as long as the 
heroes of the world are remembered." 



WILLIAM CRAWFORD GORGAS 

The World is Taught a Lesson in Sanitation 

HIS conquest over disease was the achievement 
which placed William Crawford Gorgas of 
Tuscaloosa, Alabama, in the list of great Americans. 
When Cuba was pest-ridden and reeking with yel- 
low fever, Dr. Gorgas was sent there to wage w^ar 
against these enemies of mankind. He was not the 
first scientist, by any means, who had tried to rid 
the island of disease, but he was the first one to start 
a vigorous clean-up campaign with the law to help 
him to enforce his orders. 

In one year after Dr. Gorgas was placed in 
charge of the sanitary department in Cuba he had 
run all of the mosquitoes and yellow fever out of 
Havana. For the first time in one hundred and 
fifty years there was not a case of yellow fever in 
the city. 

Old marshes were drained; houses were cleaned 
and disinfected; yellow fever patients were screened 
in, while other ])(H)ple were forced to screen their 
houses to keep out the mosquitoes. Inspectors were 
employed to watch every part of the district and to 
report immediately any sickness among the people. 
All of this happened just after the Spanish- Amer- 
ican War. For it was while our siddiers were there 

218 




\^■|I,l.IAM (■I^\\^■l'()I;I) lioitoAS, si'TUiEOX-Gi-:xKi!AL u. s. ak.mv 



220 HISTOEY STOIMES OF ALABAMA 

in 1898 that the United States government realized 
the dreadful conditions in Ou])a. 

After his success in fighting disease in Cuba Dr. 
Gorgas was sent to Panama to take charge of the 
sanitary department there. Before his clean-up 
campaigns were started people thought that the 
Isthmus of Panama was a plague spot and always 
would be. They proved that statement by telling 
how the French government had spent two hundred 
and sixty million dollars in that very canal zone and 
the money, they said, was worse than thrown away. 

When Dr. Gorgas arrived the governor of the 
zone told him that the resources of the government 
were at the services of the sanitary department. 
The governor also said that trying to dig a canal 
while fevers were raging among the people was 
utter folly. He said publicly that people would no 
longer be begged to screen their houses and clean 
up their premises, but they would be forced by law 
to do so. Dr. Goi'gas gave orders and the governor 
saw that they were carried out properly and 
promptly. The same precautions that had been 
used so successfully in Cuba were used in Panama. 

A certain kind of mosquito was known to carry 
malaria; flies were known to be typhoid carriers; 
rats spread the dreadful bubonic plague and the 
deadly pneumonia of that country was caused ])y the 
unspeaka])le tilth that existed. 

A campaign of insect and rat killing was car- 
ried on. Every house in the Zone— four hundred 
and forty-eight squnie miles— was disinfected. 



WILLIA]\r CEAWFORD GOEGAS 221 

Kerosene was poured into the marshes and the 
swamps were drained. Undergrowth where mosqui- 
toes love to hide was cut down and burned. Insj)ec- 
tors went every day into every house to see if orders 
were obeyed or if any sickness developed. If sick- 
ness increased too rapidly in any neighborhood the 
inspector for that district was held responsible. Dr. 
Gorgas would not allow any slack methods; what- 
ever was done was done exactly right. Food was 
examined and so was the water. As a result every 
possible source of contagion was destroyed. 

Until the Americans began living in Panama the 
place was a dense forest. It was just a neck of 
land made u]) of mountains and valleys. These were 
covered with thick undergrowth and formed vast 
jungles Avhere insects swarmed, vermin crawled, and 
small animals roamed at will. Bodies of stagnant 
water and l)ottomless quagmires were additional 
breeding places for pests. 

Heretofore when people who were not accus- 
tomed to that region moved in, more often than 
otheiwise, the undertaker moved them out. Lack 
of precaution increased the spread of disease and 
the grim specter of death had stalked daily through 
the desolate country. 

Before the task given to Dr. Gorgas in Panama 
was completed, the residents boasted of the fact that 
their country was as good a health resort as Palm 
Beach, Florida, and just as attractive in every other 
way. People living in other unhealthful places be- 
gan saying, ''If such a miracle can be wrought in 



222 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

that death hole, it is needless for us to suffer from 
disease any longer." South Africa, where miners 
were dying of pneumonia and la grippe, called our 
Dr. Gorgas to come to their rescue. The fever- 
ridden people of Ecuador cried out in their agony 
for the relief the great sanitary expert could bring. 

In Dr. Gorgas 's own home town the people said, 
"We will make Tuscaloosa absolutely free from in- 
sects and disease." And they set to work to clean 
up the town. Every old tin can was destroyed; 
every mud hole was drained or filled up ; every hol- 
low tree was treated with kerosene; houses were dis- 
infected and screened; and the breeding places of 
flies which are the carriers of typhoid and filth were 
cleared away. Every intelligent person in Tusca- 
loosa did his i:)art toward keeping the town free 
fiom insects. 

It was President Woodiow Wilson who ap- 
pointed Dr. Gorgas Surgeon General of the United 
States Army. Under his direction, in the big camps 
all over the country, the army doctors tried hard to 
keep disease away and keep the soldiers strong and 
fit. .^ The doctors were not satisfied with keeping the 
camp grounds clean, but for a distance of miles 
around woods, marshes and swamps were cleared of 
flies and UKtsquitoes. This was not all. th,' people in 
general, were taught more a])out health and sanita- 
tion than they ever knew befoi'e. Even the children 
began to realize that absolute cleanliness brings good 
health. 



HIDDEN TREASURES 

The Minerals of Alabama 

FIVE slaves went into the stone quarries near 
Decatur and worked there every day until each 
had carved a big granite column. The task set for 
these skillful slaves was the carving of a huge post 
from blocks of stone. The granite from which the 
columns were made was hewn from boulders on the 
hillside at Trinity. The stone was rolled down to 
the river bank below by means of trees used as 
wheels and levers. Here, near the banks of the Ten- 
nessee River, these faithful negroes worked day in 
and day out urrtil five columrrs w^ere ready to adorn 
the bank building at Decatur for which they were 
made. 

Trinity is only a few miles above Decatur, but in 
that day of river transportatioir and rough dirt 
roads it was no small matter to move five enormous 
columns of stone. At last the columns were set in 
place and the new State Bank at Decatur was com- 
pleted. All of the slaves in the commimity were 
given a holiday and they came iir wagons for miles 
around to join in the celebratiorr of the opening of 
the bank. The president of the bank made a ringiirg 
speech and then motioned to the rregroes who had 
carved the granite columns to come forward. They 
advanced and knelt in front of the president who 

223 



324 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

gave each one a legal j^aper that made hmi a free 
man forever. 

The first bank bnilding at Decatur is still stand- 
ing, although it is no longer used as a bank. The 
handsome stone columns are often pointed out to 
visitors, for a great deal of -Decatur's history is 
connected with that building. The quarries at Trin- 
ity supplied the granite that went into the Court 
House at Chattanooga, Tennessee, and a number of 
railroad bridges. Large quantities of granite have 
been shipped from Morgan country to various states. 

Another interesting fact about that quarry at 
Trinity is that you can enter the mountain side 
there through a long, dark passage, three miles 
long, and come out on the other side of the moun- 
tain. The entrance to this cave is about two feet 
wide. If you are brave enough to t^ke a torch and 
grope your way through the narrow passage you 
will find it is forty feet high in some places, while 
it is only eight feet high in others. Carvings on the 
face of the rocks prove that the Indians used the 
place as a cave long ago. After the Indians w^ere 
all gone runaway slaves used it for a hiding place. 
During the War Between the States ammunition 
was stored in this passage. 

Near this historic spot is another jDlace where 
the Indians dug silver from the ground, so say the 
legends of the Red Men. They claim that silver bul- 
lets were made from the silver of this mine. If an 
Indian chief became offended he went on the war 
path with a silver bullet for his enemy. The legends 



HIDDEX TEEASUEES 225 

tell you that it meant sure death to the enemy. 
There really are signs of silver, gold, copper and 
other ores in the hills near Decatur. 

Another discovery, valuable to the savages, was 
the "medicine rock" found in this neighborhood. 
From crevices between rocks a black tarry substance 
oozed out. This crude asphalt was used by the In- 
dians as salve for their wounds. This is said to be 
the first asphalt found in America. It is used, in 
modern times, for building roads, paving streets 
and for many other valuable i^urposes. 

Altogether the hills of Alabama are very valu- 
able. There is no telling what you may find buried 
in their depths. They offer unlimited opportunities 
to bo3"s and men who are ready with scientific train- 
ing to search for the treasures hidden in them. 

Graphite 

Graphite is one of the minerals of Alabama 
which has attracted so much attention since the 
European War began. It was found in Talladega 
mountains during the War of 1861, and this is how 
it came about: When the Confederate Government 
found itself at war without any equipment whatever 
there was nothing to do but go to work and find ma- 
terial for equipment south of the Mason and Dixon 
line. It was in Alabama that most of this material 
was found. The coal and iron came from the hills 
around Birmingham, Tuscaloosa and Montevallo. 

The Confederate Government sent Professor 
Gessner to the old copper mines in Talladega county 



220 



HISTOT^Y STOT^TES OF ALABAMA 



to find the chemicals necessary in making gun pow- 
der. Sulphur ore was the first mineral shipped 
from the Talladega mountains to Selma where gun 
powder was made for the army. Believing that 




AX ALAl'.AMA (iK'A I'l 1 ITl': AI I \ !■: 



other valuable minerals could be found, Professor 
Gessner explored the mountains for miles around. 
Graphite was one of the things he discovered. But 
it was vears later before it was successfullv mined. 



HIDDEN TREASURES 227 

In the year 1916 a fever of graphite mining 
swept the state. Graphite mines were opened in 
Clay, Talladega, Cleburne, Coosa, Chilton and other 
counties. In making steel parts of a ship it is neces- 
sary to have a vessel for molten iron that will not 
break under intense heat. Graphite, mixed with a 
certain kind of clay, is the substance used in mak- 
ing these crucibles. It is the hardest substance 
known, except the diamond, and it is used not only 
in making crucibles but in making lead pencils, 
paints, lubricants, and a number of articles found 
in factories and furnaces. It looks like a coarse 
gray powder after it is separated from the ore. The 
chi'ef difficulty in producing graphite lies in the fact 
that pure graphite is hard to separate from the 
finely ground ore. Little particles of rock mixed 
with graphite makes a low grade product. 

Prospectors have spent a great deal of time and 

money trying to find the best way to separate the 

pure graphite from the ore. But in spite of this 

difficulty the state produced in 1915 nearly three 

and a half million pounds and no one knows how 

much graphite there is yet in the mineral region of 

Alabama. 

Marble 

To the hills of Talladega county came the Italian 
sculptor, Moretti, where he found what he had been 
hunting for seventeen years. Moretti made the 
statue of Vulcan which represented Alabama's min- 
eral resources at the St. Louis Exposition. From 
Birmingham he started on a little tour of explora- 




238 



HIDDEN TUEASITEES 229 

tion through the mineral region of this state. When 
he reached the old McKenzie place, near Talladega, 
he found, to his great joy, a big supply of the finest 
white marble in the world. 

There are only three places that produce fine 
white marble. One is in Carrara, Italy, one in the 
state of Vermont, and the other in Talladega county, 
Alabama. Moretti said that the Alabama marble is 
the best in the world and there is an immense quan- 
tity of it. The sculptor made a marble slab, nine 
feet long, two feet wide and one-eighth of an inch 
in thickness. The slab was translucent, which means 
that one could almost see through it. Moretti sent 
this exquisite sample to Milan, to be placed in an 
art exhibit. 

From the Talladega marble, Moretti carved his 
famous "Head of Christ." He made other beauti- 
ful statues also. The best art galleries in Europe 
contain statues made from Alabama marble. There 
are other kinds and grades of marble in the state, 
and vast quantities of it. There are gray marble, 
yellow marble and black marble. Just the marble 
alone in the state is worth millions and millions of 
dollars. The Post Office at Mobile is one of the 
handsome buildings that has been built of Alabama 
marble. 

Gold and Precious Stones 

People had known for years that there was gold 
near Jemison in Chilton county and looking for gold 
was a sort of pastime. One day a farmer discovered 



2:30 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

grains of gold in a stream about seven miles from 
Jeniison. The particles of gold were rough and 
jagged, so the man knew that the vein nuist be near. 
For if the gold had been washed a great distance 
the pieces would have been worn smooth. A careful 
search, however, failed to reveal any signs of the 
long-sought vein. Finally the man gave up the 
quest and threw his crowbar into a bunch of small 
trees to stay there until the spirit moved him again 
to take up his search for gold. But as the iron bar 
fell it struck something hard. This something 
pioved to be a lock which was part of a vein of oi'e' 
forty feet in width. At last a vein of gold was 
found. Gold mines were soon opened there and at 
other places near by and a good giade of ore that 
is fairly profitable is mined. 

Nobody has ever grown rich by mining gold in 
Alabama, but money has been made by digging this 
precious metal from its hills. It is said that De 
Soto found gold in the country which is now Ala- 
bama ; but the state was ten years old before the 
gold fever stiuck the prospectois who flocked to 
Geoigia and Alabama. 

lion ])yiites is a mineral resembling gold that is 
found in Alabama. This ore has deceived many 
miiieis wlio were looking for gold. But up to this 
time the iion pyrites are more valuable than the 
gold found in this state. It supplies the acid phos- 
phate used in making fertilizer. 

As specimens of valuable things found in Ala- 
bama, Dr. Eugene Smith, noted geologist, has in his 



HIDDEN TREASURES 231 

collection at the Uuiversity of Alabama, a half 
dozen beautiful turquoise stones. These stones are 
about the size that a man would wear in his ring 
and they are the color of a robin's egg. Dr. Smith 
found these stones in Clay county. Another stone 
which the geologist found there was a beryl. It is 
set in a ring that was made of gold dug from the 
foothills of the Talladega mountains. 

Lignite 

All of the gold and most of the other minerals 
in this state are found in the mineral region of 
North Alabama, but in Coffee county there are large 
deposits of a mineral called lignite. 

Before coal is coal it is something else. De- 
cayed logs, leaves and plants sta}^ in the ground for 
hundreds of years, until they become "peat." The 
poor people of Ireland burn this soft, wet sort of 
fuel. The next stage of development is lignite. 
After that it is the bituminous coal so plentiful in 
Alabama coal fields and the last stage is hard an- 
thracite coal found in Pennsylvania. 

For years the farmers around County Line 
burned the black soil under their syrup kettles. 
Then Dr. Eugene Smith examined this and pro- 
nounced it "lignite." Samples were sent to manu- 
facturers in Europe who were delighted with the 
"briquettes, clean as a i3arlor floor," which they 
made from the samples. Nothing has ever been done 
to develop these lignite mines. But the lignite fields 
extend for several miles. The vein is fortv feet 



232 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

deep and it is quite likely that some of the boys 

who read this story will one day make a fortune 

right there near the line between Coffee and Pike 

counties. 

Limestone 

In Clarke county, where the big trees grow and 
the fields are white with cotton in the summer time, 
there was, in the years gone by, one vast stretch of 
water. For Clarke county, like the rest of the Gulf 
Coastal Plain was once under the sea. All that re- 
mains now of the sea, however, are the fossils that 
have been dug from the limestone quarries. In 
many homes there are flower stands, which are 
nothing more than the petrified bones of monstrous 
sea animals. The limestone found in this part of 
the state is soft until exposed to the sun and air for 
awhile then it becomes very hard. It is used largely 
in making cement. 

Salt 

One of the most interesting relics of Clarke 
courty is the old salt wells. In a story which Pio- 
fessor T. L. Head wrote about the Salt works there 
he said: "Had the reader been on almost any public 
road in Clarke county during the years 1852 to 1864 
he would have wondered where all those wagons 
were going. Some had two horses, many had four 
mules hitched to them. Each wagon was filled with 
old kettles, bedding, food stuff, provisions, poultry 
and whatever else could be eaten oi* bartered. 

"A planter or his overseer was in the wagon and 
barefooted negroes followed on each side. Clouds 



HIDDEN TEEASUEES 



233 



of dust hung continually over the earth. There 
were hundreds of such equipments on their way to 
the Salt Works. For miles before arriving at the 




ALABAMA LIMESTONE QUARRY 

Salt Works, one would pass large wagons loaded 
with wood, some drawn by as many as six mules, 
some by oxen. This wood was used in boiling 
down the salt water. 



234 HISTOKY STOETES OF ALABAMA 

"When they reached the works, the mules were 
fed and arrangements made for a place to build a 
furnace and dig a well. Some of the negroes were 
set to work digging a well, others were sent 
with the wagon a mile or two to haul rock. A 
rude furnace was hastily built, wood hauled from 
wherever it could be secured and the work of salt 
making begun." 

There were private salt works, county works and 
state works. At all of these great crowds were 
engaged in making salt. The state did not store 
much salt at the works. For as fast as it was made 
it was shipped to Mobile, Demopolis, Selma, Mont- 
gomery, Tuscaloosa and Talladegar From there the 
home-folks and the Confederate soldiers were sup- 
plied with the salt which they so much needed. 

Ochre and Clay 

The largest ochre deposit in the United States 
is near Jackson. Ochre is a yellow ore. It is dug 
from the earth, hung in racks to be kiln-dried, then 
loaded, like coal, into cars and shipped away to be 
used in making paint. 

Our state is rich in clays of all kinds. The 
coarser grades are used in making drain pipes and 
bricks. A fine clay, called Kaolin, is used in making 
insulators, pottery, etc. There is an inexhaustible 
supply of Kaolin in the mineral section of the state 
and during the late war there was a big demand for 
this high grade clay. 



HIDDEN TREASURES 235 

This story of hidden treasures really has no end. 
If every ton of coal and iron in the state could be 
removed, Alabama would still be one of the richest 
mineral states in the South. There is oil and 
natural gas, saltpeter, sulphur, copper, mica, 
graphite, pyrites," gold, silver, tin, manganese, 
asbestos, emery, soapstone, all sorts of clays, in 
fact, and all standard building stones. Indeed there 
are great stores of wealth waiting undisturbed in 
the hills of the state until the men of the future 
shall bring forth NatTire's marvelous gift to Ala- 
bama. 



THE LEGEND OF MUSCLE SHOALS 

An Ideal Location for a City — Florence* 

In the beginning of the world, so the Cherokees 
said, a beautiful water sprite, the Goddess of the 
Tennessee, Avas imprisoned by the Great Spirit 
beneath the rushing waves of Muscle Shoals. 
Throughout the ages the Prince of Power of the 
Air hovered near whispering his love upon the 
perfumed evening breeze or venting his despair in 
storm and tempest. Although his beloved flashed 
back her smiles and murmured tender secrets which 
only a lover could understand she could never 
come forth from her hiding place. 

Just why the water sprite had been imprisoned 
the Cherokees did not explain but they believed 
this to be true. They said that the Prince of the 
Air and the Goddess of the Tennessee could never 
be united until there should appear a mighty ma- 
gician who with a wave of his wand would bring 
together these spirits of the water and of the air. 
Then, thought the Red Men, there would follow such 
a reign of peace and plenty upon the earth as had 
never been known before. 

It was not the Indians, alone, who felt the promise 
of this region. The white men also fell under its 
spell. In 1818 three Tennesseeans, traveling through 

•Adapted from Mrs. Emmett O'Neal's version of this story. 

23G 



THE LEGEND OF MUSCLE SHOALS 237 

what is now Lauderdale county, Alabama, told each 
other that some day a great city would arise at the 
foot of Muscle Shoals on the hill where Florence 
now stands. These three men were General John 
Coffee, who won. fame in the Battle of New Orleans, 
Judge John McKinley, who became a Supreme 
Court Judge of the United States, and James Jack- 
son, a wealthy turfman, whose thoroughbred horses 
became known the world over. 

They bought up the land for miles around from 
the Indians and they organized "The Cypress Land 
Company." They had the town of Florence sur- 
veyed and plotted and then they advertised a big 
land sale. Among the purchasers of lots there in 
the woods near Muscle Shoals were three presidents 
of the United States— Madison, Monroe and Jack- 
son, and the records show that they paid a fancy 
})rice for the land they ])ought. 

Although no one dreamed in that day of the 
enormous value of water power, still the Tennessee 
river was regarded as a prime factor in the growth 
of Florence. And so the town started with a boom 
and prospered greatly for forty years. Then came 
the War Between the States in which the people of 
North Alabama suffered more than those of other 
sections, and Florence furnished her share of the 
South 's heroes. Later she furnished her share of 
the State's governors. Governor Patton, Governor 
Moore, Governor Edward O'Neal, and years later, 
his son, Governor Emmett O'Neal came from 
Florence to the State Capitol as its executive head. 



238 TfTSTOllY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

After the Avar and after the Reconstruction, 
Florence again awoke to the value of her water 
power. The little water sprite was still flirting with 
the Prince of the Air and they were both waiting 
for the Magician's wand to set her free. 

Then one day came General George Goethals, 
sent by the United States Government, to build a 
canal at Muscle Shoals so that boats might ply up 
and down the Tennessee river.. But General 
Goethals did not even know that the Goddess of the 
Tennessee was imprisoned beneath the waters, be- 
cause only children and forest folks know anything 
about sprites and fairies. Just a plain general could 
not be expected to understand all of that. After 
the great man had completed as much of his w^ork 
as the government would allow he left Florence and 
later on became famous for his work at the Panama 
Canal. 

Sometime afterward, men of science began see- 
ing visions that consisted chiefly of water power and 
electric currents. And every one knows that at 
Muscle Shoals is the best place in the w^orld to see 
visions of that kind. Every time the big men stood 
on the banks of the Tennessee and talked about 
nitrate, water powder, electric current and matters 
of that nature, the Prince of the Air perhaps took 
heart and whispered low^ to his sw^eetheart beneath 
the rushing waters, '' 'Twill not be long, little 
Goddess of the Tennessee ! ' ' Then maybe she would 
nod and smile and say things which only a beautiful 
w^ater sprite knows how to say. 



THE LEGEND OF ]\IITSCLE SHOALS 239 

Commercial Value of Muscle Shoals 

When the big guns in Europe were booming 
forth their demands for ammunition, the United 
States Government appropriated $20,000,000 for 
building plants to manufacture nitrates. For you 
see, Ammonium Nitrate is a high explosive that is 
used in tilling shells. In the fall of 1917 the Govern- 
ment undertook the building of two nitrate plants 
on the Tennessee river, near Florence, Sheffield and 
Tuscumbia— ''The Tri-cities." 

A few months later President Wilson authorized 
the development of the Muscle Shoals water power 
by the Government. You must know that the water 
power at Muscle Shoals is so great that it could run 
every factory in Alabama if it were properly har- 
nessed. The power furnished by the big dam that 
was built there turns the wheels which operate the 
dynamo and the dynamo supplies the electric cur- 
rent which takes the nitrogen from the air. 

Not only ammunition but fertilizer also is made 
at Sheffield Nitrate Plant. When a farmer wishes 
to grow large crops he of course fertilizes his land. 
If fertilizer can be made by taking nitrogen from 
the air and changing it into plant food the farmer 
can buy his fertilizer cheap. Four-fifths of all the 
air is nitrogen and there is enough nitrogen over the 
smallest county in the state to keep the human race 
going for centuries. 

Taking the nitrogen from the air by means of the 
electric current is a wonderful discovery. Using 
water power for putting nitrogen in shape for plant 



340 HISTORY ST0EIE8 OF ALABAMA 

food will help to end the high cost of living. For 
the farmers can raise many times as much food on 
the same amount of land if they can buy cheap 
fertilizer. Then of course they can afford to sell 
their crops for less. . 

The shoals in the Tennessee river we^^e made 
hj little fish called ''Mussels." (Also spelled 
M-u-s-c-1-e). For thousands of years mussel shells 
piled up layer upon layer, until there was a moun- 
tain of mussel shells built up from ,the bottom of 
the river making the stream impassable for boats. 

Besides furnishing fertilizer to the farmers and 
ammunition to the w^arriors, the big project at 
Muscle Shoals will perform another great service 
for all the people. Two huge concrete dams are 
being built (1919) that will change the river at that 
point into a deep narrow lake nearly seventy miles 
long. When the big dams are completed water will 
pour into the lake thus formed until the channel 
is deep enough for the boats to go over the shoals 
without touching the mountain of shells in the river. 
Then boats can go the whole length of the Tennessee 
into the Ohio and thence into the Mississippi river 
down to the Gulf of Mexico. Altogether the Muscle 
Shoals project will mean billions of dollars for 
Alabama people. Next best to that, the little Water 
Sprite has been set free to join the Prince of the 
Air and ''live happy ever afterwards." 



ALABAMA'S SHARE IN THE 
WORLD WAR 



GREAT 



The Daring and Adventure of the Brave Boys of Alabama 

OSMOND KELLY INGRAM stood at his post 
as gunner's mate on the American destroyer, 
Cassin. The ship's crew had expected a German 
submarine to appear at just any 
hour of the day or night. When 
young Ingram actually saw the sub- 
marine a short distance away he 
forgot everything except that his 
vessel was in danger. When he saw 



I - .■*. J. L 4. wli'*''^**^^ 







OSMOND KELLY INGRAM AND THE U. S. S. CASSIN 

the torpedo coming straight toward the American 
vessel, quick wit and a spirit of sacrifice prompted 
Kelly Ingram to perform his heroic deed. Seizing a 
quantity of high explosives the brave sailor lad 

241 



343 IIISTOKY ST0RIE8 OF ALABAMA 

threw them into the sea so that they would fall be- 
tween the torpedo and the Cassin. When the tor- 
pedo struck, Ingram was blown overboard by the 
force of the explosion. But not another man on 
board was killed. A few days later word came to 
the mother in the little home at Pratt City, 
Alabama, that her son had given his life for the 
country he loved. Then Mrs. Betty Ingram 
answered as a hero's mother would, "I'd rather 
give my other sons also than to have Germany win. ' ' 

Alabama furnished nearly three thousand men 
for the Navy, with about forty naval conmianders; 
among them were Rear Admiral John Hood, Rich- 
ard Harrison Jackson and Henry A. Wiley. This 
state also sent men into the Aviation section, the 
Tank corps, the Marines and the Regular Army. 
In the War with Germany, eighty thousand Ala- 
bamians wore the uniform. This number was fur- 
nished from a population of two million, three 
hundred thousand. 

Alabama blood darkened the waters of the 
Marne, the Ourcq, the Meuse, and men from this 
state went to the Rhine. It was an Alabamian, in 
command of the Second Army Corps, who told the 
French commandei' that ''American soldiers would 
not understand the order to retreat," and added, 
''We are going to attack." They did attack and 
drove back the enemy at Chateau Thierry. From 
that moment American forces went steadily for- 
ward, never losing ground, and the quick end of the 
War dated from the time when Robert Lee Bullard 
of Opelika refused to retreat. 



ALABAMA'S SHAEE IN THE WORLD WAE 243 



In the War with Germany Alabama furnished 
one Lieutenant-General, five Major-Generals, six 
Brigadier-Generals, more than seventy-five Colonels 
and Lieutenant-Colonels and such a long list of 
Majors, Captains and Lieuten- 
ants that it would take a whole 
hook to tell you aliout them. 
1 he names of the highest field 
officers are: Lieutenant-Gen- 
eral Robert Lee Bulla rd, Ma- 
jor-Generals William L. 8i- 
bert, William C. G o r g a s, 
Frank Mclntyre, R. E. Noble, 
and Ernest Hinds; Brigadier- 
Generals John 'B. McDonald, 
Robert E. Steiner, Eli 1). 
Hoyle, George Estes, Jr., Sedg- 
wick Pratt, and Mathew C. 
Smith. 

The 82nd Divisi(m of the 
A m e r i c a n Expeditionary 
Forces contained as many Ala- 
bama men as did the Rainbow 
Division. They fought in some 
of the fiercest battles of the war 
and quite distinguished them- 
selves in the Argonne Forest, which was the greatest 
battle fought by Americans. In the 8Lst Division 
there were enough Ahibama soldiers to make up an 
entire regiment if such a regiment had Ix'cn desired. 
Thev fou^iit nol)l\- at (Uiateau Thiei'rv and in Ai'- 




ROBERT LEE BULLARD 
LIEUT. GENERAL 



244 HTSTOEY STOETES OF ATABAMA 

gomie and won distinction there. There were Ala- 
l)ania men in other divisions and wherever they 
fonght, they fought like the sons of Southern sol- 
diers, brave and true. 

Alabama's "Fighting Fourth" 

The men of the ' ' Old Fourth Alabama ' ' Infantry 
Regiment were by no means the only Alabama 
soldiers who won honor and glory on the fields of 
France, but they were the first to go overseas. 
Theirs was the first regiment in the American 
Expeditionary Forces to receive a Medal of Honor 
and theirs was the first American unit to capture 
German prisoners without aid from the French or 
British. They were the first to take over a com- 
plete sector of trenches on the front line. iVnd 
the}^ stayed longer on front line duty than any 
other regiment from America. 

These men of the "Old Fourth Alabama" saw 
service on the Mexican border in the fall and winter 
of 1916-1917 when troops were sent there by the 
United States Government to put an end to Mexican 
raids upon Uncle Sam's territory. Then -they came 
back to Montgomery where they continued their 
training for real warfare. With Colonel William P. 
Screws in command, the regiment left Montgomery 
the latter part of August for (.amp Mills, on Long 
Island. There the *'01d Fourth Alabama" became 
a part of the Rainbow or 42nd Division, after 
which the regiment was known as the 167th 
Infantry. 



ALABAMA'S SIIAEE IN THE WORLD WAR 245 

It was a dark day for Alabama and indeed it 
was a dark day for the whole world when thirty-six 
hundred Alabama men sailed from New York in the 
fall of 1917, knowing that they would never come 
back until Germany was beaten and shorn of her 
cruel power. It was early in December when they 
reached France, where the 167th Infantry spent its 
first Christmas overseas. There the officers gave 
the little French children a real American Christ- 
mas tree and all the soldiers had a regular Christ- 
mas dinner. 

About the middle of February, 1918, the regi- 
ment had its first taste of European warfare. A 
German bomb was dropped near their headquarters 
and a few days later the regiment moved into the 
trenches in the Lorraine sector. 

The reckless daring, the impudent attacks, and 
the cold, steady nerve of the Alabama boys in 
''No Man's Land" caused great glee and satisfac- 
tion in the camps of the Allies. ''No Man's Land" 
meant any strip of land that lay between the German 
line and the Allies' line. Sometimes it was a forest, 
at times it was only fifty yards wide. 

Our men stayed in the country around Luneville 
and Baccarat until July. During that time they 
repulsed raids and captured many prisoners, but 
they lost a few of their own number. On leaving 
this sector, the regiment moved by railway and by 
forced night marches to the Champagne front, near 
Chalons, where on July 15-18 it met and repulsed 
one of the most vicious attacks ever launched by 



346 



HISTOEY STORIES OF ALABAMA 



the German army. Then moving by foot, by rail 
and by trucks, the regiment hurried to the edge of a 
big forest northeast of Chateau Thierry, where they 
took part in the worst hand-to-hand fight of the 
war, at Croix Rouge Farm. 

During the last days of July, our troops reached 
the Ourcq river, where the Second Battalion dis- 




STAFF OFFICERS OF THE 167tH INFANTRY REGIMENT 

Sitting: Lieut.-Col. Walter E. Bare; Col. William P. Screws; Major 
Herbert B. May ; Major John M. Smith. 

Standing- : Lieut. P. W. Austin; Lieut. Lechartee (French Liason Officer) ; 
Lieut. Pricehur (French Interpreter); Capt. George W. Spann ; Major 
William T. Cole; Major Robert Burns; Lieut. Bryant Snyder. 

Third Row : Lieut. F. W. McKron ; Lieut. J. I. Cole. 

tinguished itself by crossing the river in the center 
of the Division in the face of terrific artillery and 
machine gun fire. After the fighting near Chateau 
Thierry the regiment was ordered to rest, but early 
in September it was again moving by night marches 
to take part in the St. Mihiel drive. ' The 167th 



ALABAMA'S SHARE IN" THE WORLD WAR 247 

was in the middle of the 42iid Division, which de- 
livered the main blow in this offensive. Shortly 
afterwards the regiment stormed and captured two 
mighty German positions. One was known as ''Cote 
de Chatillon" and the other was called '^Hill 288." 
The Huns thought these places could never be 
taken, but the Americans smashed through Hinden- 
burg's line and put to rout the Kaiser's forces. 

Then came the desperate fighting through the 
great Argonne Forest. On the date the Armistice 
was signed the 167th regiment was in a few miles 
of Sedan on the Meuse river. Those who survived 
went with the "Army of Occupation" and began 
their ''Watch on the Rhine." 

In the early part of May, 1919, Colonel "Bill" 
Screws brought his boys back home. Not a man 
among them showed any disposition to seek honors. 
In fact, the men who were decorated for bravery 
said, themselves, that others deserved the medals 
just as much as those who were cited and the offi- 
cers declared that there was not a coward in the 
regiment. 

Many stories are told of wounded soldiers who 
stayed at their posts and continued to fight until 
they fell and of young officers who led their men 
straight into the jaws of death and did not falter 
even when they were hurt. Wounded men carried 
their half-dead comrades to safety. Brave fellows 
crawled through gas and fire to drag back their 
mates who had fallen. Unspeakable days and 
nights were spent in the filthy trenches and in long 



248 HIS^I'OT^Y STOTJTES OF ALABAMA 

watches in the cold and rain, without food and 
without shelter. Mere boys stood by their guns, 
aiming straight and true, while cannon roared, 
bombs burst, and the dead lay all around them. 
Many young fellows drove through terrible dangers 
to carry food to the army or to bring back those who 
had fallen in battle. And cooks stood in the midst of 
shot and shell serving drinks to the fighting men. 
These are the men who came back to Alabama or who 
now "lie sleeping where the poppies grow." 

In order that you may understand just why the 
167th was called "the best fighting regiment in the 
army" a few stories of the heroic deeds our men per- 
formed are here given : 

At daybreak on the 15th day of July, 1918, Ger- 
man troops were seen advancing in great waves 
toward the point in the Champagne sector where the 
167tli Infantry regiment was stationed. Company G 
and ComiDany H met them first. All about shells 
burst, tearing big trees to pieces and hurling them 
about ; trenches were caved in as if by an earthquake ; 
shells exploded, filling the trenches with their hor- 
rible gas and pieces of shrapnel flew about like bees 
in a swarm. 

It was in that fighting that Corporal Major D. 
Riley sprang up to the parapet of his trench while 
bullets fell around him and with his rifle picked oft' 
the German who was firing the big gun opposite. 
Another German took the gun but Riley jumped up 
and shot him. Five times this same thing happened. 
Then a French officer pulled young Riley down and 



ALABAMA'S SHARE IN THE WORLD WAR 249 

kissed him on both cheeks. Another German took 
the gun and Riley leaped to his perch again. But 
this time the enemy's bullet struck him on the head 
and Corporal Riley's brave heart stopped Ideating. 
In that same battle, over on another road, Cor- 
poral William S. Hughes saw a column of Germans 
advancing. He could not handle his gun to the best 
advantage in his cramped position in the trench so 
he climbed out in spite of the artillery fire, pulled 




A co.Mi'A.w sri;i;i;r at ca.mp infcclellan, annistox, Alabama 

his gun from its emplacement, put it on the parapet 
and waited until the Huns came within two hundred 
yards of him. Then he opened fire. Germans began 
to fall and very soon they were retreating at full 
speed. 

It was in this battle, also, that Brock Hill of 
Gadsden shot down the first German airplane that 
was brought to earth by an American soldier's rifle. 
While thirty-eight enemy airplanes flew low over the 



250 inSTOHY STOIJIKS OF ALABAMA 

American lines some of the soldiers snggested to 
Brock Hill that he could bring one down. He missed 
his aim the first shot but the second killed the pilot 
in one of the planes. In a few moments the expert 
rifleman from Gadsden saw the Hun plane crash to 
the ground just before it leached the German lines. 

During this veiy battle of Chalons in the Cham- 
pagne, Walter F. Russell of Anniston earned the 
gratitude of his regiment and the highest praise from 
his commander. A number of Mechanic Russell's 
comrades were lying wounded in the front line 
trenches. Without a thought of danger the Anniston 
soldier rushed through the lines to rescue them from 
death. Back and forth he went carrying out the 
stricken men. Bullets whizzed around him, shells 
burst, and deadly gas filled the air. Russell found 
that he could not work fast enough with his gas mask 
on so he threw aside the mask and worked steadily 
on until he had saved all of his comrades that he 
could. Several months later he marched with some 
of them into Germany with the victorious Army of 
Occupation. 

After Captain Mortimer H. Jordan received the 
wound which caused his death the men who ran to 
his assistance heard him say, "Don't trouble about 
me. Look after those wounded men out there." 

At three o'clock on the aftei'noon of July 25, 
1918, the men of the l()7th Infantry, after an all 
night ride in ti'ucks, advanced toward the enemy's 
stronghold in the Forest de Fere. Two American 
divisions with a noted French division were alrcnidv 



ALABAMA'S STTAEE TN THE WOR.I^D WAR 251 

there and sorely in need of the help which the 167th 
brought. The thick woods were tilled with snipers 
and machine gun nests. Enemy aviators flew over 
the lines, dropping bombs or carrying back informa- 
tion to the Germans. Heav}" artillery fire mowed 
down the front lines and poured shot and shell into 
the concentration point in the rear where fresh 
troops were brought up. 

On the northern edge of the great w^oods was the 
Croix Rouge (Red Cross) Farm. In the center of 
the farm was the farm house, a huge w^alled-in af- 
fair of stone and mortar, that was like an old-style 
fortress. This farm house afforded protection for 
the Boches who were pouring constant tire from their 
big guns into the French and American forces. The 
enemy held the w^oods all around and on the high 
places guns were hidden from which continuous fire 
fell upon the Allied army. Night came on and the 
artillery fire continued. To make matters w^orse a 
cold rain set in. "Fox" holes scooped out of the 
earth or a roadside gully were the only shelters our 
men had. Early next morning patrols were sent 
out to discover what they could about the enemy. 
Numbers of Alabama men gave their lives that day 
in patrol work and no one ever knew just what 
chances they took nor how great was their sacrifice. 

On the afternoon of July 26, about four o'clock. 
Colonel William P. Screws received an order saying 
that his men w^re to "go over the top" in about one 
hour. Lieutenant-Colonel Walter E. Bare of Gads- 
den was told to deliver the order to Major John Car- 



252 HISTOm^ STORIES OF AI.ABAMA 

roll and Major Dallas B. Smith who were in com- 
mand of the front line battalions, two miles away, 
and then to take charge of the advance lines during 
the attack. 

Lieutenant- Colonel Bare jumped on his motor- 
cycle and rode like the wind most of the way. Heavy 
artillery fire fell all around him but he kept right 
on. When he was within half a mile of the First 
Battalion a large tree was shot down across his path- 
wa3% so he left his motorcycle and set out on a run 
with the order. 

The First Battalion received the order at forty- 
five minutes past four o'clock and five minutes later 
they "went over the top." In another five minutes 
the Third Battalion had received the order and had 
obeyed it too. The First Battalion was given the 
task of clearing a strip of woods that adjoined the 
farm. The Third Battalion was ordered to clear an- 
other strip of forest that lay between it and the farm, 
to take the farm house and then swing across another 
strip of woods and take the Croix Blanche Farm. 

Nothing more dreadful than that fight in the For- 
est de Fere has ever been known. Red lines painted 
broadly on tree trunks facing the advancing Amei'- 
icans were afterwards found. These were the rest- 
ing places for the enemy's guns. With their guns 
laid in these bands they had only to ])ull the triggei' 
and keep feeding their weapons. So the German 
gunnel's sat in their hiding places and without even 
having to take aim fired their murderous guns, 
while ou]' men, facing shot and shell, pushed steadily 



ALABAMA'S SHARE IN THE WORLD WAR 258 

forward toward the hated foe. Among the first to 
fall was Captain Julien M. Strassburger, the gallant 
commander of the 167th Machine Gun Company. 
Hundreds of our men were killed or wounded but 
the battalion forged ahead. 

The enemy's fire was so terrific and the loss of 
Alabama troops so great that men of less spirit and 
courage would have fallen back. But our men did 
not falter. In what seemed the worst moment of 
the day's battle Lieutenant Ernest E, Bell with fifty- 
eight men of Company D and Lieutenant Robert 
Espy with fifty-two men of Company B made a wild 
charge to take the enemy's position. Across the bare 
road these two platoons rushed pell mell shooting and 
yelling like young demons. The Boche saw them 
coming and panic seized them. Under Captain 
Bryant Whitehurst, who took command of the new 
arrivals, they captured twenty-seven machine guns 
and routed the Huns completely. All but twenty- 
three of Lieutenant Bell's and eighteen of Lieuten- 
ant Espy's men were lost, but their reckless daring 
put new courage into the hearts of the Allies. 

The Third Battalion in the meantime was having 
like experiences. They lost so many men that vic- 
toiy seemed very far away. But the reserve bat- 
talion under Major Everett Jackson was ordered to 
their assistance and some splendid Georgia troops 
were on the scene. In the face of heavy machine gun 
fire that was poured from enemy guns within the 
stone farm house these Southern men charged and 
actually put the Germans to rout. 



254 



HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 



It was during the last onslaught of the Huns that 
day when Major John Carroll shouted to his grim- 
faced fighters, "Save your fire, men! We'll give 
them the bayonet!" American soldiers soon found 
out that Germans could not stand before cold steel. 
The sight of those gleaming bayonets in the hands 
of war-mad foes was more than the Huns could face. 
For an instant the}^ stood as if stunned and then 
turned and fled for their lives. 



3P^^B5 








jrcT*:: , ic — r. y^ ''"^ 


_ , , .,._ -.«..«^^,> z-,^. -. ^ , -^. 



A SCOU'J' PLANE ^VrADlO AT Till': A\ lATlON IMM'AIK DKl'OT, MOXTCiOM KK Y 

By eight o'clock, on the evening of the 27tli, the 
Croix Rouge Farm and a good part of the Forest de 
Fere was in the hands of the Americans. The big 
guns in the forest were silenced and a mighty fear 
was in the ranks of the Boclie. It was after that 
battle that a German officer said of the Alabamians, 
"They fight machine guns with their bare hands." 
Victory for the Allies seemed very much more certain 
after that time when the Fourth Alabama Infantry 
Regiment wrote its name in the history of the war 



ALABAMA'S SHAKE IN THE WOT^T.D WAIJ 255 

by driving the Germans back at Chateau Thierry and 
the Croix Rouge Farm. 

The Battle of the Ourcq followed the capture of 
Chateau Thierry and the Rainbow Division was 
thrown into the line. It waded through the German 
army until it reached the Ourcq river. Along with 
the rest of the Rainbow Division came the 167th In- 
fantry and Corporal Sidney E. Manning of Com- 
pany G. Corporal Manning was in command of an 
automatic rifle squad during an attack on the heights 
that overlooked the Ourcq rivei'. In the advance on 
the hills along the river Corporal Manning's platoon 
commander was killed. Then the platoon sergeant 
was wounded and Corporal Manning took command. 

The Germans were strongly entrenched in a posi- 
tion that dominated the entire Ourcq Valley. They 
were surrounded by barbed wire and defended by 
machine guns. Manning had only thirty-five men 
left in the platoon but he knew that the German 
stronghold had to be taken if there was to be any vic- 
tory f OIL the Americans in that battle. His platoon 
was near the center of the assaulting line and under 
constant fire. But Manning's men followed their 
leader right up to the enemy's strong point. The 
withering fire killed all but seven of those brave lads 
and Manning was repeatedly wounded. 

While these men held on with grim determination 
to win or die fighting a squad of Germans ap- 
proached to relieve the besieged position. They came 
within fifty yards of Manning's heroic seven but few 
of them ever reached the German stronghold. For 



256 HISTOID Y STOUT ES OF ALABAMA 

Manning set up his automatic rifle and kept up such 
a murderous fire into that group of Huns that he kept 
them back for hours. 

Not until the entire American line had reached 
the crest of the hill and consolidated its strength to 
beat down the Huns did Corporal Manning quit his 
post and crawl back to shelter. He was the only man 
left of the whole platoon and he had nine wounds 
when the surgeon found him. 

In the whole 167th regiment there were two men 
who were awarded the Congressional Medal of 
Honor which is the highest honor our government can 
bestow. A soldier from Idaho was one of them and 
Sidney E. Manning of Flomaton, Alabama, was the 
other. Corporal Manning came back to Alabama 
and the people were very proud of his ^ledal of 
Honor but he was too brave to boast. He said that 
any other man would have done the same thing. 

A good story was told of an Alabama man who 
was wounded during the St. Mihiel drive. His name 
is unknown but he would tell you himself that it does 
not matter about the name since a hundred other 
fellows would have done the same thing had they 
been given a chance. That is the way all the re- 
turned soldiers talk. 

This Alabamian was hit in the leg and had to ho 
sent to the hospital. Two Hun prisoners who had 
been captured also had to be sent to the rear. It 
seemed a pity to the wounded fighter for a perfectly 
good man to be taken from the fighting line to carry 
the prisoners away. So he volunteered to take them 



ALABAMA'S SHAKE IX THE WOULD WAR 257 

to the rear himself. A litter was found, the Ala- 
baniian was placed upon it, and with a jjistol in one 
hand, he forced the prisoners to carry him all the 
way. On arriving, he turned them over to a guard 
and then he was carried to the hospital. 

On the 14th day of October the Second and Third 
Battalions of the 167th Infantry with other troops 
attacked the enemy in his strongest position. The 
Germans thought the Allies could never take the 
Cote de Chatillon in the Argonne Forest, for it was 
strongly fortified and protected by heavy artillery 
with a large force of men. But the Germans were 
disappointed. They were driven out and their ma- 
chine gun nests cleaned out by the reckless advance 
of the Alabama and Iowa soldiers. 

Right behind the first wave of the attack came 
Sergeant Ralph Atkinson and his Stokes Mortar 
Platoon. When the Germans fell back Sergeant At- 
kinson found himself with part of his j)latoon at the 
most advanced point reached by our troops. Then 
came the news that more than two hundred Huns 
were a short distance away advancing for a counter 
attack. There was no time to "dig in" and set up 
the big gun properly. But Ralph Atkinson knew 
that Stokes gun had to be fired. Calling to Sergeant 
Talmage May and Sergeant Austin to help him, one 
gun was placed in position. There was no chance to 
plant the gun securely or to attach the barrel to the 
elevating stand. Crouching and placing the barrel 
of the gun between his knees, he told his comrades 
to load for him. Holding the barrel with his hands 



258 HISTOID Y STOINES OF ALAB A:\rA 

and guiding and directing the fire by eye, Atkinson 
kept a stead}^ downpour of twelve-pound shells droj)-' 
jflng and bursting among the enemy. A few such 
shells were enough. Those Germans were smart 
enough to run and they did. As they fled Atkinson 
coolly lifted his range and kept firing as long as there 
was a chance to hit a Hun. Of course he was given 
the Distinguished Service Cross and his mother was 
the happiest woman in the city when it was pinned 
on him at the State Capitol during the celebration of 
the Old Fourth Alabama's Homecoming. 

Thirty-five other men of the regiment were 
awarded the Distinguished Service Cross overseas. 
Ten received the Croix de Guerre. Lieutenant Ed- 
ward W. Wren of Talladega won the Belgian "O]'- 
der of the Crown/' and Charles S. Maas of Selma 
won the Military JNIedal which Belgium bestows, and 
one hundred and twenty citations for bravery have 
already been accorded to other Alabama soldiers in 
the 167th regiment. But nothing can compensate for 
the twenty-six hundred wounded men or the six hun- 
dred dead who lie in heroes' graves. It was the great 
General Foeh, in command of all the Allied armies, 
who said, "God bless Alabama." 

Because Alabama men fought so fiercely, the 
French soldiers called them "The Tigers," ]>ut the 
little French children called them "Les bons Amer- 
icains" which means "The good Americans." 



PART II 

Important Events in Alabama 
History 

SPANISH EXPLORATIONS 

THE man who discovered Alabama was Her- 
nando De Soto. In his youth he had gone to 
Peru with Pizarro and aided in the conquest of 
that great country. Returning to Spain, he was 
made governor of Cuba and granted the right to 
explore the region known as Florida. 

De Soto believed, as did other Spaniards, that 
the land was filled with gold and precious stones. 
He had no trouble in finding companions for his 
journey, and in May, 1539, he landed with a thou- 
sand men on the shore of Tampa Bay. He slowly 
made his way to where Tallahassee now stands, and 
then westward to Pensacola Bay. At this point the 
Spaniards were told that gold was to be found to 
the north, and they marched into what is now 
Georgia. De Soto's army wandered over many 
miles of forests in Georgia, sometimes without food, 
and often weary and discouraged. At last they 
came to the Coosa River, which they followed down- 
stream. On July 2, 1540, they entered the present 
state of Alabama in what is now Cherokee County. 

261 



262 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

So far as is known this was the first time tliat white 
men had set foot on Ahibama soih 

The most disastrous happening of De Soto's 
wanderings through Alabama was the battle of 
Mauvilla. Tuscaloosa, "The Black Warrior," re- 
sented the cruel treatment of the Indians by the new- 
comers, and led ten thousand warriors in an attack 




COLUaiNS LKFT l!Y DK SOTO 



upon the Spaniards. The chief himself was slain 
and his warriors defeated, but the Spaniards also 
suffered heavy loss. 

It was in April of the following year that De 
Soto discovered the Mississippi River. The next 
winter, after a vain search for gold, he returned to 
the banks of the ]\rississippi River. There he died 
and his body was buried in the river that he had 
discovered. 



FRENCH COLONISTS 

MORE than 150 yeai*s after De Soto's dis- 
astrous expedition another attempt was made 
to settle the land called Florida. La Salle, a French 
Canadian, floated down the Mississippi from the 
Great Lakes and in the name of Louis XIV of 
France took possession of all the land drained hy 
the great river and its tributaries. He named the 
country Louisiana, in honor of the French king. 
He convinced King Louis that colonies along the 
Mississippi, uniting with the French colonies in 
Canada, would lay the foundation of a French em- 
pire in America. 

The first French colonists sent to Louisiana 
entered Mobile Bay in 1699. Iberville, a French 
Canadian, was their leader. His two brothers, Sau- 
volle and Bienville, assisted him. They sounded 
the channel along Massacre Island (now Dauphin 
Island), examined the shores of the mainland, and 
then made a temporary settlement at Biloxi. This 
location was not satisfactory and in a few months 
the colonists came baclv to a place on the Mobile 
Eiver. 

At Twenty-seven INIile Bluff, on the ^Fobile 
River, the first permanent white settlement in Ala- 
bama was made in 1702. Iberville oi'dered a fort 
built and in a short time rude cabins for the settlers 
were erected. He named this settlement Fort Louis 

2G3 



264 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

de la Mobile. Iberville died and the work of direct- 
ing the colony fell upon Bienville. On account of 
the overflows from the river, the fort was moved 
down to the present site of Mobile, which was 
founded by Bienville in 1711. 

Bienville was in charge of the colony for nearly 
forty years, although during part of that time other 
Frenchmen were allowed to assume authority and 
to interfere with Bienville's plans for the colony. 
Once he was recalled to France, where he stayed 
for several years before returning to his people in 
Louisiana. 

English traders began coming into the forests 
and English settlers moved into the rich country. 
Troubles arose and each nation tried hard to keep 
the friendship and the trade of the Indians. The 
French were usually kind and just to the Red Men 
and most of the tribes were friendly toward them. 

In order to control the trade with the Creek and 
Alabama Indians, Bienville, in 1714, built Fort Tou- 
louse on a neck of land between the Coosa and 
Tallapoosa rivers, four miles below Wetumpka. 
Twenty years later Bienville built Fort Tombecbe, 
near Jones' Bluff, on the Tombigbee, to protect 
French interests among the Chickasaws. 

QUESTIONS 

Who led the first part}' of white men into the land that is now 
Alabama ? 

Why did tlie Spaniards oonie to tliis country? 

'\Miat Indian cl)ief led his warriors in an attack against the 
Spaniards? 



FKENCH COLONISTS 265 

What famous battle was fought between the Spaniards and 
Indians, on Alabama soil? 

Who was La Salle ? Where was the land he called "Louisiana ?" 

Who brought the first white settlers to Louisiana ? 

Wliere was the first permanent white settlement made in Ala- 
bama ? 

AVho was tlie great lender of the French colonists? 

When was Mobile founded ? 

Where was Fort Toulouse? ^^^^o built it? Why? 

\Ylmt fort was built on the Tombigbee about twenty years later? 



DISPUTES OVER TERRITORY 

THE country lying in the Mississi^^pi valley, 
called Louisiana, was the cause of endless dis- 
putes. France, Spain and England each claimed 
parts of the territory and their claims overlapped. 
There were really no definite boundaries and the 
territory changed owners several times. 

After the French and Indian wars, in which the 
British were victorious, Prance lost all of her pos- 
sessions in America. All of the territory east of 
the Mississippi except the Isle of Orleans fell to the 
British by the Treaty of Paris, thus giving Mobile 
to the British. Florida was divided into two prov- 
inces. East Florida and West Florida, separated by 
the Appalachicola river. B}^ a secret treaty France 
had ceded to Spain all of her territory west of the 
Mississippi and the Isle of Orleans. 

In 1765 the English began the purchase of lands 
from the Indians. This opened West Florida and 
the whole Southwest territory to white settlement. 
Trade increased and business flourished in spite of 
storms, sickness and quarrels over the territory. 

In 1779 England declared war against Spain. 
Galvez, the Spanish governor of Louisiana, made a 
dash upon the English forts in the South and cap- 
tured all of them. ^to])ile fell into the hands of the 

206 



DISPUTES OVER TEERITORY 267 

Spaniards and remained a Spanish stronghold for 
thirty-two years. Spain also occupied West 
Florida. i ] 

The Treaty of Peace between the United States 
and England, after the War of the Revolution, gave 
to the United States all of the territory east of the 
Mississippi and north of 31° north latitude. And 
by the Treaty of Madrid, Spain gave up her claims 
to West Florida south of 31° latitude. 

In 1799 Andrew Ellicott was sent by the United 
States government to survey the boundary line. 
" Ellicott 's Stone" was set up below St. Stephens 
to mark the line between Spanish and American 
territory. The Spaniards were not satisfied with 
this division of territory and gave the American 
settlers a great deal of trouble. 

In 1800 Spain secretly ceded back to France 
all of Louisiana except that portion lying south of 
31° latitude and between the Perdido and Missis- 
sippi rivers. In 1803 the United States bought from 
Napoleon, ruler of France, all of the French posses- 
sions in America. This was known as the Louisiana 
Purchase. But Spain claimed that Mobile, lying- 
in the territory between the Mississippi and Per- 
dido rivers, was not properly in Louisiana. The 
L^nited States claimed the Perdido river as the 
eastern limit of the Louisiana Purchase. General 
James Wilkinson moved against the city and cap- 
tured it, and since that time Mobile has remained 
under American rule. 



268 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA ' 

During the War of 1812, between the United 
States and England, the Spaniards became especially 
troublesome. The Creek War in the South was 
really part of America's war with England, and 
General Jackson was giving his attention to sup- 
pressing Indian outbreaks in the South. 



THE PASSING OF THE RED MEN 

THE famous ruler of the Creek Indians was 
Alexander McGillivray. He was the most influ- 
ential man in Indian history and the cause of grave 
concern to the Government during George Washing- 
ton's time. Through him the Creeks were finally 
persuaded to sign a treaty with the whites, giving 
up a large part of their lands and promising peace 
between the tw^o races. This was when McGillivray 
and his chiefs made their trip to New York upon 
the President's invitation. 

The United States Government employed capa- 
ble men to take charge of Indian affairs in various 
places. George Strother Gaines was the agent whom 
the government sent among the Indians of Alabama. 
He was not only a splendid government agent, but a 
real friend to the Indians. 

A Land Office was established at St. Stephens 
and immigrants in large numbers came from other 
states to settle the land grants they had received 
from the United States Government. As white 
settlers moved in the Indians were gradually crowded 
out. But the government tried to make some sort 
of satisfactory returns to the original owners for 
their lands. Money, provisions and homes in the 
West was the usual payment. 

The principal Indian tribes who lived in Alabama 

269 



270 HISTOIJY STOETES OF ALABAMA 

and who gave up their lands to white settlers were 
the Creeks, Chickasaws, Choctaws and Cherokees. 
The Chickasaws ceded 350,000 acres of land in the 
bend of the Tennessee River. The Cherokees granted 
a mail route from Knoxville to New Orleans while 
the Choctaws, at j\lt. Dexter, gave up 5,000,000 
acres. The whole Mississippi Territory, of which 
Alabama was a part, was then open to American 
settlers. 

Creek chiefs granted the right of a horse-path 
through their country and agreed to build ferries, 
bridges and accommodation houses for travelers. 
The Choctaws signed the Treaty of Dancing Rabbit 
Creek. Not long thereafter the Chickasaws and 
Creeks also signed agreements to move west of the 
Mississippi. 

The Cherokees signed a treaty in wliich the 
United States Government agreed to give them 
$5,000,000 and homes in the West in exchange for 
their lands. 

The white settlers insisted upon moving into their 
new homes before the Indians were ready to leave 
for the West. Difficulties arose and the noted Fran- 
cis Scott Key was sent by the government to Ining 
about a satisfactory understanding. For hundreds 
of years the Red Men had roamed at will over the 
])road acres which were their natural birthright. 
"But in 1838 the last of tlie Indian trilies, the Chero- 
kees, removed to the West. 

Descendants of Indian leaders are still living 
in this state. Among the honorable names are Mc- 



THE PASSTNCi OF THE RED MEX 271 

Gillivray, Weatherford, Osceola, Stan Watie, Col- 
bert, Ridge, Ross, Tait, Sequoyah and Mcintosh. 

The encroachment of the whites upon Indian 
lands and the intluence of Tecumseh and other 
Indian prophets who hated the white men led to out- 
breaks and savage attacks upon white settlers. The 
campaign against the Indians in the South, which 
lasted for more than a year, is known as the Creek 
War. William Weatherford, "The Red Eagle," 
was the mighty leader of the Indians before and 
during this war. 

Pushmataha, noted as an orator, and chief of the 
Choctaws befriended the white people and led his 
warriors against the Creeks. General Andrew 
Jackson led the American forces to subdue them. 
General John Coffee, "the right arm of Jackson," 
distinguished himself in this war. He afterwards 
settled in this state and became a surveyor in North 
Alabama. 

Among the principal battles of the Creek War 
were the Battle of Burnt Corn, the Massacre at 
Fort Minis, the Battle at Talladega, the Battle of 
the Holy Ground, and the Battle of Horse Shoe 
Bend. It was in the last named battle that Major 
LemTiel P. Montgomery was killed. In his honor 
Montgomery w^as named. After the Battle of Horse 
Shoe Bend, Weatherford surrendered to Jackson. 

It was onh^ after this victory over the Creeks 
that they agreed to cede their lands to the Whites 
and to move westward. Some of the chiefs refused 
even then to sign the Peace Treaty and afterwards 



272 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

gave the government some trouble. However 
Weatherford's power was broken in the South and 
eventually all of the Indians left the state. On 
the site of old Fort Toulouse, General Jackson 
built a new fort and called it Fort Jackson. 

QUESTIONS 

Who was probably the most famous iiiler of the Creek Indians? 
Give a brief account of his life. 

Name the principal tribes that lived in Alabama. 

Name some families in Alabama to-day that are decendants of 
noted Indian tribes. 

What is your opinion of the treatment of the Indians by the 
white people? 



TERRITORY AND STATE 

THE Mississii)pi Territory was formed by act 
of Congress in 1798. The present states of 
Mississippi and Alabama made up the one territory. 
Georgia claimed the country that formed the Missis- 
sippi Territory except a twelve-mile strip along the 
northern border. It was because the King of Eng- 
land had given this land to James Oglethorpe that 
Georgians claimed the land. Others thought that 
the land was not the English king's to give. How- 
ever, the law makers of Georgia believed that they 
had the right to sell tracts of land in the territory 
which afterwards formed part of Alabama. This 
was kno\\Ti as the "Yazoo Sale." Later the sales 
were cancelled and the United States Government 
took the matter in hand. The Government paid to 
Georgia $1,250,000 for these lands. The sale brought 
a great many new settlers into the territory and 
improvements resulted. The Land Office at St. 
Stephens became the center of business. St, Steph- 
ens was laid off in town lots in 1807 and a road was 
cut from St, Stephens to Natchez, Cotton gins were 
built and farm lands cleared. 

On the first day of March, 1817, Congress divided 
Mississippi Territory and two days later organized 
Alabama Territor}^ St, Stephens was selected as 
the seat of government. President Monroe appointed 

373 



274. HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

William Wyatt Bibb as Territorial governor. The 
governor called the first Legislature to meet at St. 
Stephens. All of the members of the Mississippi 
Territory Legislature who lived within the limits of 
the new Alabama Territory made up this Legisla- 
ture. One Senator and ten members of the lower 
house constituted the first Legislature. 

At the next meeting of the Legislature at St. 
Stephens a committee was appointed to select a cap- 
ital. They selected Cahaba, but agreed that Hunts- 
ville should be the capital until suitable buildings 
were erected at Cahaba. 

As soon as the Alabama Territory was formed, 
immigrants from Georgia, Tennessee, Virginia, and 
the Carolinas rushed into the new territory to settle 
on the rich lands. In less than two years there were 
enough people to enable Alabama to b.e admitted into 
the Union as a state. 

In 1819 the State Convention met in Huntsville 
and prepared a State Constitution. The "Enabling 
Act" of Congress was the act that gave the people 
permission to prepare this Constitution. Congress 
accepted the Constitution and on December 14, 1819, 
Alabama was admitted into the Union as a state. 
Alabama was settled moi'e rapidly and passed from 
a territory into a state more quickly than any other 
state. 

The first State Ijcgislature convened at Hunts- 
ville in 1819 and the Su]~>reme Court of Alabama 
held its first session at Cahal)a in 1820. 



TERRITORY AND STATE 275 

The capitals of Alabama have been as follows: 
St. Stephens (Territorial Capital), Huntsville, Ca- 
haba, Tuscaloosa, and Montgomery. 

QUESTIONS 

What was the Yazoo Sale? 

Of what big territory was Alabama a part before the Territory 
of Alabama was formed ? 

When was Alabama set apart as a Territory? 

What was the first and only capital of Alabama Territory? 

When did Alabama become a state ? 

Name the state capitals in the order in which they came. 

Where did the French colonists, called "The Vine and Olive 
Company," settle? 

Who was the founder of Hnntsville? Selma? Montgomery? 



FORTY YEARS OF STATEHOOD 

FROM the time that Alabama was admitted into 
the Union until the trouble between the North 
and the South began the state gradually grew in 
wealth and j^opulation. Esjjecially notable was the 
increase of population during the first ten years 
of this time. Farming was the chief industry. The 
comfortable homes on the big plantations were 
places of good cheer and culture. The majority of 
the negroes were well cared for and happy. A 
general trend of progress and prosperity was evi- 
dent in the days before the war. The Indians had 
removed to the West and a number of good 
schools— among them the State University, had 
been esta])lislied. 

In 1828 Congress granted 400,000 acres of relin- 
quished lands in North Alabama for the improve- 
ment of Muscle Shoals. Relinquished lands were 
those which the government had taken back from 
the settlers in payment of their debts. Many of 
the early settlers contracted for big tracts of land 
during the "Yazoo Sale" and other sales. When 
the government took the matter in hand part of such 
pui'chases were returned to the government as pay- 
ment for the land that was retained. 

The first canal in the state was completed in 
1882, connecting Huntsville with Looney's Landing 

276 



FOKTY YEARS OF STATEHOOD 277 

on the Temicssee. And about the same tmie the first 
railway track west of the Alleghenies was com- 
pleted. It extended from Tuscumbia to Decatur and 
now forms part of the Southern Railway system. 

A new capitol building >vas erected in Mont- 
gomery and the records and archives were moved 




COAL MINf:S, EDCJEWATEll, ALABAMA 
Man and Crew Undercutting Coal with Electric Machine 

from Tuscaloosa to the present capitol city in 1846. 
While both houses of the Legislature were in ses- 
sion in 1849 the Capitol caught on fire and was de- 
stroyed. The source of the fire was unknown. Many 
valuable papers were lost. Immediate steps for its 
rebuilding were taken and the work was completed 



278 HISTORY STOEIES OF ALABAMA 

in time for the next Legislature to hold its meeting 
two years later. 

The Shelby Iron Works near Montevallo were 
built by Horace Ware. In 1859, he built one of the 
largest and best equipped rolling mills in the United 
States. The first iron ties for cotton made in Ala- 
bama came from this rolling mill and it supplied 
much of the material for the Confederate armies. 
Professor Michael Tourney, the first State Geologist, 
found rich deposits of coal, iron and other minerals, 
in 1847. Coal mining in the vicinities of Montevallo 
and Tuscaloosa was carried on successfully. The 
mines are still the most valuable and productive in 
that location. Extensive improvements began. 
Building of towns, roads, railroads and the opening 
of mines went on. In 1852 the Legislature made 
l)ig api)ropriations for improvements but Governor 
Winston who was called ''the veto Governor," 
vetoed the bills. 

Two years later the North and South railroad 
was chartered. But it was several years after the 
War before the road was completed. It is now part 
of the Louisville and Nashville system. 

The Alabama Insane Hospital was established at 
Tuscaloosa, largely through the influence of Miss 
Dorothea L. Dix a philanthropist who came to 
Alabama in the interest of unfortiuiate people whose 
minds were affected. Dr. P^^ter Bryce was ap- 
pointed superintendent of the Hospital which 
opened its doors in 1861, and he remained in charge 
until his death thirtv-one vears later. This institute 



FORTY YEARS OF STATEHOOD 379 

is now called "The Bryce Hospital." An institute 
for insane negroes was established at Mt. Vernon, 
in Mobile county in 1901. 

QUESTIONS 

Who was tlie first governoi' of Alabama? 

What noted Frenchman passed through Alabama on his tour 
of the United States in 1825? 

Who was Osceola? 

Where was the first canal in the state? 

Where was the fii'st railroad in Alabama built? When? 

Wlicre was the first cotton factory built in the state? 

Who was Daniel Pratt? 

How long has the State Penitentiary, at Wetumpka, been in, use? 

What happened to the State Capitol in 1849? 

What valuable discoveries were made by Prof. Michael Toumey? 

Tell something interesting about the early coal milling in 
Alabama ? 

Tell something about the first iron makers in this state. 

What Alabamian was elected Vice-President of the United 
States? 

Wliat two charitable institutions were opened in Alabama just 
before the War of Secession ? 



ALABAMA AT WAR 

THE WAR WITH MEXICO 

WHEN Texas belonged to Mexico the Americau 
people living in what was afterwards known as 
"The Republic of Texas" were very much mis- 
treated by the JNlexican government. At last these 
Texans rose in i-evolt against Mexico and naturally 
the citizens of the United States rushed to their aid. 
Among others, a number of men went from Ala- 
bama to assist the ox)pressed people of Texas. It 
was at Goliad that so many brave Alabamians laid 
down their lives. 

In 1836 Santa Anna, the Mexican leader, fell 
upon the old Spanish mission, the Alamo, near San 
Antonio, and killed every white man in the fort. 
William B. Travis, "the Hero of the Alamo," was 
reared in Alabama. 

When Texas declared her independence and was 
finally annexed to the United States, Mexico thought 
herself misused. Attacks Tipon American citizens 
brought about the Mexican war in 1846. 

This Avar was of deep interest to the people of 
Alabama and many of them volunteered for service. 
One regiment under Colonel John R. Coffey, one 
battalion under vColonel John Seibels and a company 
from liimestone county were allowed to go. 

280 



ALABAMA AT WAR 281 

THE WAR BETWEEN THE STATES 

In 1860 William Lowndes Yancey made a tour 
of the country speaking on the subject of State's 
Rights. He felt that the South was discriminated 
against by the national law makers and that her 
industries would be hampered and her progress re- 
tarded by the methods which Congress proposed. 
Many southern people had voluntarily freed their 
slaves. And it was not a question of slavery which 
brought about the South 's withdrawal from the 
Union, as nmch as it was a question of the states' 
right to have a voice in the making of laws under 
which their citizens would live. 

Henry Washington Hilliard opposed secession 
and he used every effort to prevent Southern states 
from withdrawing from the Union. He thought 
that the Federal government could be induced to 
give the South justice and that war could be pre- 
vented. He, like Mr. Yance}^ was a noted orator 
and both were men whose influence was felt through- 
out the nation. After Alabama actually withdrew 
from the Union, Mr. Hilliard cast his lot with his 
oAvn people and did all in his power for the Con- 
federacy. 

AYilliam Lowndes Yancey advocated the forming 
of the Confederate States and wrote the Ordinance 
of Secession. The Secession Convention met in 
Montgomery on January 11, 18()L Delegates from 
six states met in the Capitol in February and formed 
the Provisional Government of the Confederate 
States of Amei'ica. Jefferson Davis was chosen 



282 in STOEY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

President and Alexander II. Stephens Avas chosen 
Vice-President. President Davis selected as mem- 
bers of his first cabinet: Robert Toombs, Secretary 
of State, S. R. Mallory, Secretary of the Navy, 
Judah P. Benjamin, Attorney-General, John H. 
Reagan, Postmaster-general, C. G. Memminger, 
Secretar}^ of Treasnry and Leroy Pope Walker, 
Secretary of War. On the 18th of February the 
officials were inaugurated. Four months later the 
capital of the Confederacy was moved to Richmond, 
Virginia. 

On April 15, 1861, Abraham Lincoln, President 
of the United States, declared war. Alabama men 
came home from other states to enlist with Alabama 
Troops. This state furnished 122,000 men out of a 
population of 526,271. Officers and men from this 
state took part in every important battle and no 
soldiers ever fought more bravely than did the Con- 
federate soldiers from Alabama. 

Governor A. B. Moore ordered state troops to 

seize Fort Morgan and Fort Gaines at the entrance 

of Mobile Bav and also the arsenal at Mt. Vernon. 
« * 

The counties of Jackson, Marshall, Madison, 
Lawrence, Franklin (now in Colbert). Limestone 
and Lauderdale suffered most when the Federals 
invaded North Ala1)nma in 1862. 

General Pliilli[) Dale Roddy won distinction by 
liis d;n iug raids u])on the eiicmy. He harassed the 
Federals across the state, captured their supplies, 
destroyed bridges and made numerous successful 
attacks. 



ALABAMA AT WAR 283 

Raphael Senimes was commander of the Sumter 
and then of the Alabama which lioats constituted 
the greater part of the Confederate Navy. He 
destroyed Federal vessels and confiscated their sup- 
plies for Federal soldiers until the Alahama was 
sunk by the Kcarsarge off the coast of France. 

One of the greatest naval battles of the war took 
place in Mobile Bay in 1864, when eighteen Feder.-il 
vessels made an attack. It was there that the flag- 
ship Tennessee held her own for several hours 
against the Federal fleet. 

In 1865 Wilson's Raiders left Lauderdale county 
for the purpose of destr^jdng Selma as well as 
everything on the way. Iron works, coal and sup- 
plies of all kinds were burned or taken by the 
Northern army. It was Colonel Croxton who burned 
the University buildings, library and all. The gal- 
lant young cadets w^ent forth to give battle to the 
invaders but the enemy's force was so much greater 
than that of the University boys that the teachers 
ordered them back and the young soldiers retreated 
most reluctantly to a place of safety. 

Croxton l^urnecl factories, foundries and other 
Iniildings in Tuscaloosa. At Selma, where the Ord- 
nance Department of the Confederacy was located, 
destruction followed the advent of Wilson's raiders. 
After destroying Selma, they marched to Mont- 
gomery where thousands of bales of cotton wer^ 
])urned. 

The last fight in Alabama was at Fort Tyler, 
near West Point, in Chambers county. General 



284 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

Richard Taylor, commanding the Department of 
the West, surrendered at Citronelle after Lee sur- 
rendered at Appomattox. 

QUESTIONS 

What Alabama statesman made a tour of the conntry, speaking 
in behalf of the rights of Southern states? 

AVhat Alabama statesman opposed Secession and used his influ- 
ence against withdrawal from the Union? 

Why was Montgomery called "Tlie Ci'adle of the Confederacy?" 

Who was chosen President of the Confederacy? 

How long did the capital of the Confederacy remain in Mont- 
gomery ? 

AVhen was war declared by President Lincoln? 

What forts were seized by state troops? 

Who was the Governor of Alabama when the war began? 

Where was the Ordnance Department of the Confederacy? 

What part of the state suffered most from the invasion of Fed- 
eral troops? 

Name as many as four Alabamiaiis who distinguished themselves 
during this war. 

What great naval battle took place on the Alabama coast? 

iSTame three towns that suffered heavy loss from Federal fire 
during the last days of the war. 



RECONSTRUCTION DAYS 

PRESIDENT ABRAHAM LINCOLN an- 
uoimced that the war would close and the 
Southern States would be restored promptly to 
their accustomed place in the Union as soon as 
Southern people quit fighting. The people of the 
South realized that the Confederacy was a "Lost 
Cause." They accepted the defeat of their armies 
and yielded sadly but sincerely to the necessity of 
submitting to whatever conditions the United States 
might impose. 

President Lincoln was assassinated by a crazed 
actor and others in authority at Washington were 
not so kindly disponed toward the South. It was 
then that the hardest days of all began when the 
people of tlie South were placed under military rule. 
Alabama of course suffered with the rest. A very 
o})noxious State Constitution was forced uj^on the 
people of Alabama. This Constitution abolished 
slavery, repealed the Ordinance of Secession and 
repudiated the war debt. The Fourteenth and Fif- 
teenth Amendments which were ratified later by 
''the Black and Tan Legislature" gave the negro 
the right to vote and l)old office. These amendments 
also denied the right to vote to many white men. 

Alabama, with Florida and Georgia, made up 
what was called the Third Military District. Con- 

285 



286 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

gress refused to recognize the state government oi' 
to allow Alabama repiTsentatives to take tlieir seats 
in Congi'oss. "Cai pet-baggers" and "Scalawags" 
organized the ignorant negroes into "Tlie Freed- 
man's Bureau" and the "Loyal League." Humilia- 
tions and indignities were forced upon Southern 
people until in 1867 when such matters had reached 
a climax, the Ku Klux Klan was organized for the 
protection of homes and property of the white 
people. 

Slowly but surely the strong men of Alabama 
convinced the negro that he had better remain away 
from the polls and leave the voting to intelligent 
citizens. The Carpet-baggers were tinally intimi- 
dated and in some instances the ballot boxes taken 
away from them and disposed of properly. After a 
rather stormy election, George S. Houston was 
adroitly inaugurated as Governor and the corrupt 
rule of Reconstruction officials came to an end. 

Dr. John Witherspoon Lu Bose gave the follow- 
ing names as being the giants of that tremendous 
struggle: James H. Clanton, James Jj. Pugh, John 
T. Morgan, Robert McKee, Walter L. Bragg, Ry- 
land Randolph, F. C. Randolph. J. W. A. Sanford, 
Edward C. Bullock and John V. Hubbard. 

During the Reconstruction period the state made 
some progress despite the Garpet-baggers. A num- 
ber of schools, mentioned (»lsewhere, were estab- 
lished. The city of Birmingham was laid out. Rail- 
Toad building and mining of coal and iron flourished. 
The South and North Railr(tad (now Louisville aud 
Nashville) was built. 



KECONSTRUCTIOX DAYS 387 

Dr. Eugene Allen Smith was appointed State 
Geologist and he hegan making agricultni'al and 
mineral surveys. John G. Cullman planted the 
German Colony in what is now Cullman county. 
William Goold found the maryelous seam of coal 
that underlies Pratt Mines. 

The Fourth- Constitutional Conyention met in 
session in Montgomery. It was composed of able, 
intelligent men. Constitutional Conyentions have 
been held in this state during the following years: 
1^19, 1865, 1868, 1875 and 1901. 

Arrangements were made for the settlement of 
the state debt left by "The Black Man's Party." 
By a compromise the amount was reduced from 
$30,037,563 to $9,000,000. 

The Code of 1876 was prepared b}^ Wade Keyes, 
Fern M. Wood, and John D. Roquemore. The Ala- 
bama and Chattanooga railroad was sold at public 
auction. This road was Stanton's enterprise which 
almost ruined John T. Milner's plan for founding 
Birmingham. 

Confederate generals from Alabama were as fol- 
lows: Major-Genera Is, John T>. Gordon, Robert E. 
Rodes, Josiah Gorgas, William AVirt Allen, Daniel 
Leadbetter, Cullen A. Battle, James Cantey, James 
T. Holtzclaw, James H. Clanton, Henry D. Clayton, 
Sterling A. M. Wood, and James A. Longstreet. 
Brigadier-Generals John Herbert Kelly, Young 
Marshall Moody, Archibald Gracie, Edward Asbury 
O'Neal, James Deshler, John Winston, Phillip Dale 
Roddy, Zach C. Deas, Birkett D. Fry, Charles JMiller 



288 mSTOEY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

Shelley, John C. Calhoun Sanders, Edward Dorr 
Tracey, Edmund Winston Pettus, William H. 
Forney, John Horace Forney, George D. Johnston, 
John Tyler Morgan, Jones M. Withers, Moses 
Wright Hannon, James Hagan, Isham W. Garrot, 
Evander Mclver Law, Michael Bulger, Alpheus 
Baker, Pinckney D. Bowles, William F. Perry, and 
George P. Harrison, the youngest general in the 
Confederate Army (22 years of age). 

QUESTIONS 

How did President Lincoln propose to adjust the government 
of Southern States after the war? Why were his plans not carried 
out? 

What was "The Black and Tan Legislature" ? "The Freedman's 
Bureau? "Ku Klux Klan"? Who were the "Carpet-baggers"? 

What governor's administration marked the end of the Eecen- 
struction period ? 

How was the state debt left by the "Black Man's Part/' 
adjusted ? 

In what years have Alabama Constitutional Conventions been 
held? 

What industry made marked progress during the hard times 
that followed the war? 



THE SPANISH-AMERICAN WAR 

rHE war between the United States and Spain 
was brought on by the cruelty and injustice 
with which the Spaniards treated the people of 
Cuba. The direct cause of the declaration of war, 
however, was the destruction of the Maine. Ameri- 
can lives were lost and it was generally believed 
that the Spaniards had deliberately torpedoed the 
vessel. 

Governor Joseph F. Jolmston called for volun- 
teers for the Spanish-American War. Thousands 
of young men in Alabama volunteered but only a 
few were allowed to enlist. Alabama furnished two 
white regiments and one negro regiment. Colonels 
E. L. Higdon and J. W. Cox commanded the First 
and Second Regiments of Infantry. Colonel (now 
General) R. L. Bullard was in command of the 
negro troops. General Joseph Wheeler, General 
William C. Gates, and Jjieutenant Richmond P. 
Hobson rendered distinguished service. 

WAR WITH GERMANY 

Gn August 29, 1917, the Gld Fourth Alabama 
left Montgomery as the 167th Regiment of the Rain- 
bow Division which later won distinction for service 
in France. Gther Alabama men joined other units 
and served in every branch of service. When the 

289 



•290 HTS^l^OlJY STOIMES OF ALABA:\rA 

whole nation was thoroughly aroused over the situa- 
tion in Europe and every effort was made to send, 
relief to our soldiers and the sufferers across the 
sea, Alabama contributed her full quota to every 
cause. The Red Cross, The United War Work, 
Belgian Relief, the French Orphan Fund, Liberty 
Bonds, War Saving Stamps, Thrift Stamps, and 
munerous other patriotic undertakings received 
generous support in this state as matter of course. 

The State Food Administration under the direc- 
tion of Richard M. Hobbie, the National Council 
of Defense under the direction of Lloyd F. Hooper, 
and other organizations too numerous to mention per- 
formed the same service in this state that was ren- 
dered in other states. Cantonments were located at 
Anniston and Montgomery. An Aviation Field was 
established at Pike Roads in Montgomery county 
and an Aviation-Repair Depot at West Montgomery. 
Congressman S. Hugh Dent, chairman of the Mili- 
tary Affairs Committee of the House, in the Na- 
tional Congress was influential in the matter of 
locating training camps in his home state. Con- 
gi'essman Dent was a conspicuous figure in National 
affairs during the Wai' in Europe. 

In January 1918, the Tennessee Coal and Iron 
Company at Birmingham which is a part of the 
United States Steel Corporation bought 14,000 acres 
of land five miles from ^rol)ile to be used for the 
pur])()se of shipbuilding ])lants. A model city sprang 
up on the outskirts of Mobile. Twenty million 
(l(.llais was s]»('nt in building the sliops, shipways. 



THE SPAmSH-AMERICAN AVAR 291 

homcH and other Iniildings at Chickasaw. In eight 
months after the first ground was broken there were 
4500 men working in the big plant. The managers 
said they could build a 9600-ton steel ship every ten 
days. 

The principal parts of the vessels are fabricated 
at the steel mills in Fairfield, near Ensley, and 
ship])ed to Chickasaw where they are put together. 
Mobile has had for years several well established 
plants for the building and the repair of ships, but 
the one at Chickasaw ranks among the largest and 
best equipped in America. The city of Mobile has 
the distinction of owning the docks. 

QUESTIONS 

What provision is niado by tlie State for the care of Confederate 
veterans or their widows? 

Tell all yon know abont. the Confederate ]\Ionnment on Capitol 
Hill. 

What two United. States Senators from Alabama died in office 
in 190T? Who sncceecTed them in office? 

What qnestion agitated the Legislators of li)09, 1911, 1915? 
How was it finally settled? 

What Alabama man was candidate for the nomination for Presi- 
dent of the United States in 1912? 

Where wei'e the Go^•ernment training camps located in Alabama? 

Tell something of Alabama's share in the Great World War. 

What do you know of the service of these men: William C. 
Gorgas? W. L. Sibert? Robert Lee Bullard? 

Xame five Alabama officers in the World War. 

Name five Alabama heroes in this war. 



FIFTY YEARS OF POLITICAL PROGRESS 

IT is a common saying that the War between the 
States robbed the South of fift}^ years of growth. 
More than fifty years have passed since that war 
came to an end and two other w^ars have cast their 
shadows over the fortunes of Alabama but the state 
has developed so rapidly that it has made up for 
the lost years in many ways. -^- 

In addition to the industrial and educational 
development, referred to elsewhere in this volume, 
there have been some important political events and 
happenings of general interest. The work of the 
Legislatuies consisted chiefly of making revenue 
laws, the appropriation of funds for various insti- 
tutions and improvements, the passing of laws for 
the gen.era] welfare of the public and the creating of 
new offices and administrative boards. 

Among the important officers and boards tliat 
have been created are these: State Board of Health 
in 1879, Board of Dental Examiners and State Rail- 
road Commission in 1881, State Department of 
Agiiculture in 1883, Office of State Examiner of 
Pul)lic Accounts in 1885, Board of Pharmacy in 
1887, State Department of Insurance, Office of State 
Tax Commission, Chief Mine Inspector, and Regu- 
lalions pertaining to the safety of miners were pro- 
\i(l('d in 1897. State Department of Archives and 

293 



FIFTY YEARS OF POLTTTCAL PROGRESS 



293 



History was created in 1901. Dr. Thoipas M. Owen 
was made Director and lie has held this office since 
that time. The Game and Fish Commission was 
created in 1907. John H. AVallace was appointed 
Commissioner and has served in that capacity since 
the office was created. In 1911 the Court of Ap- 
peals, State Board of Agriculture, State Bank De- 
partment, Office of the State Prison Inspector, and 
the State Highway Commission were created. The 



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PERKY STRKKT, MONTGOMERY, EXECUTIVE MANSION 
IN FOREGROUND 

State Tax Commission was abolished and the State 
Equalization Board was created in 1915. 

Other important events are as follows: 
1879 The State Bar Association was organized. 

1882 The State Teachers' Association was organ- 

ized. 

1883 Anniston and Sheffield were founded. 

1885 The Confederate Monument Association was 
incorporated. 



294: HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

1886 Jefferson Davis laid tlie cornerstone of the 

Confederate Monument in Montgomery. 
In 1889 the Confederate ^lonmnent was 
unveiled on Capitol Hill. This was the ex- 
pression of appreciation wdiich the Ladies 
Memorial Association offered the Con- 
federate soldiers. There is a Home foi* 
Confederate veterans at Mountain Creek. 

1887 Bessemer was founded. 

1889 The Alabama Midland (now the Atlantic 
^ Coast Line) railroad ran its line through 

"the AViregrass region" of Southeast Ala- 
bama and Dothan was founded. 

1889 Appropriation was made for pensioning Con- 
federate soldiers and the widows of Con- 
federate soldiers. 

1893 Hilary A, Herbert was appointed Secretary 
of the Navy by President Grover Cleve- 
land. 

1901 A new State Constitution was prepared anrl 

ratified by vote of the people. 

1902 The two-hundredth anniversary of the found- 

ing of Mobile was celebrated in Mobile and 
at Twenty-seven Mile Bluff. 
1907 Senator John Tyler Morgan, "Father of the 
Panama Canal," died in Jmie. In July 
Senator Ednunid Winston Pettus also died. 
Hon. John H. Bankhead and Ex-Governor 
Joseph F. Johnston were chosen to suc- 
ceed tlie deceased seiiatoi's in Congress. 



FIFTY YP]AH8 OF POLITICAL PROGRESS 295 

1907 The Mobile Basin and Tennessee River As- 
sociation was organized to promote the im- 
provement of waterways in Alabama. 

1910 The United States Government began im- 

provements on the Coosa-Alabama and 
Warrior-Tombigbee rivers. 

1911 The Legislature appropriated $100,000 for 

the improvement of the State Capitol. A 
new wing was added to the building. $75,- 
000 was appropriated for the purchase of 
a Governor's Mansion. The Sabel home, 
including sundry furnishings, at 702 South 
Perry street in Montgomery was bouglit 
by the state for $46,500. 

1912 Oscar W. Underwood, candidate for the nomi- 

nation for President of the United States 
received 130 votes in the Baltimore con- 
vention. 
The Legislatures of 1907, 1911 and 1915 were 
concerned largely with the question of Prohibition. 
The subject of railroad regulation and rate-fixing 
were also live issues in 1907 and 1911. 

The first Statewide Prohibition law was passed 
in extra session of the Legislature in 1908. This 
law was repealed by the Legislature in 1911 and 
local option was restoi'ed. In 1915 Statewide pro- 
hibition laws w^ere passed and since that time Na- 
tional Prohibition has gone into effect. 

During the last few years remarkable strides 
have been made in the development of Alabama's 



296 IllSTOHY STOIHES OF ALABAMA 

resources. Especially notable is the change in 
agTicultnial conditions. Diversification of crops 
with the attention that has been given to raising 
foodstuff and livestock has wrought wonders on the 
farms in the state. 

Alabama's forests have for generations af- 
forded timber and naval stores for home consump- 
tion and fo]' shipping. But, after the war in Europe 



i,iiif— (<fci^fci 







POWER PLAxNT AT TALLASSEE FALLS 

began evei'v lumber mill in the state was taxed to 
its utmost capacity and many new ones built. Large 
shipments of tar, pitch and turpentine were made. 
Manufacturing of every kind increased and Ala- 
bama products were converted into food, clothes, 
farm tools and munitions of war to help supply the 
world-demand. 



FIFTY YEAES OF POLITICAL PROGRESS 297 

The building of locks and dams on the Coosa, 
the Tallapoosa, the Warrior and the Tennessee 
rivers has been the means of supplying factories, 
foundries, street railways and cities with electric 
current. Lock 12, on the Coosa river near Clanton, 
w^as completed in 1914. Lock 17, on the Black War- 
rior near Tuscaloosa, was completed in 1915. Muscle 
Shoals developments on the Tennessee near Florence, 
Sheffield and Tuscumbia are of great importance. 

The dam at Tallassee Falls, on the Tallapoosa 
river near Cherokee Bluffs, was built in 1900. It 
supplied current for Montgomery and vicinity for 
street cars, lighting, etc. The United States Gov- 
ernment furnished money for the improvement of 
the rivers. The Alabama Power Company has spent 
millions of dollars in middle and north Alabama in 
building power plants, transmission lines, etc. 

Prominent men have made continuous efforts to 
secure government aid to make the rivers of the 
state navigable. Birmingham people are especially 
interested in digging a canal from Birmingham to 
the Warrior river and the deepening of the Warrior 
river channel so that freight can be sent down the 
Warrior and Tombigbee rivers all the way from the 
mineral district to the port at Mobile. Another 
project is the removal of rapids in the Coosa and 
Tallapoosa rivers and the deepening of the Alabama 
river to furnish another water route to Mobile. 

The building of good roads in Alabama has oc- 
cupied the attention of progressive people for many 
years but only in recent years the Federal and State 



298 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

governments have furnished money for extensive 
improvements in road building through our state. 

Senator Jolm H. Baukhead is called "the Fa- 
ther of Good Roads." As an appreciation of his ef- 
forts for good roads, the national highway which 
runs from Washington, D. C, to California was 
named, "The Bankhead Highway." This road 
passes through Alabama and the Jackson Highway, 
from Chicago to New Orleans, passes through North 
Alabama. The Dixie-Overland Highway, from Sa- 
vannah, Georgia, to San Diego, California, passes 
through this state and also the Forrest Highway, 
from Rome, Georgia, to Pensacola, Florida. 

State Senator John Craft of Mobile has led the 
campaign for good roads in Alabama. The State 
Highway Engineer, W. S. Keller, has given his best 
efforts toward improving the roads. In 1915 the 
State Legislature passed the "State Trunk-Road" 
law which designates a system of roads passing 
through every county in the state. The law requires 
that all state aid money be spent on these trunk 
roads until the system is complete. 

After the war with Germany shut oft' the supply 
of certain chemicals which formerly came from 
Europe American people had to invent ways ^aiid 
means of securing chemicals of a like nature from 
oui' own resources. Among the improvements which 
I'csulted from this necessity was the installation of 
))y-])roducts ovens near the furnaces in the Birm- 
ingham district. Coke is the chief product of these 
ovens. The surplus gas which was formerly allowed 



FIFTY Yf]AES OF FOLITICAL PROGRESS 299 

to escape into the atmosphere is converted into fuel 
for a certain kind of furnace. Tar, sulphate of 
ammonia, naphtha, naphthalene, benzol, toluol and 
seveial other by-products are taken from the gas 
23rior to its combustion. 

Toluol was of great vahie to the government in 
the production of the high explosive known as TNT. 
Other by-products are used in making fertilizers, 
paints, and motor fuel. Coal tar is used in the open 
hearth furnaces in making roofing material, in road 
building and in making pitch, aniline dyes and 
heavv oils. 



AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT IN 
ALABAMA 

PLAIN AND FANCY FARMING 

FARMING began in Alabama with the Indians, 
no one knows how long ago. With sticks or 
sharpened stones the Indian women tilled the soil 
and dropped the grains of corn into the rich earth. 
When Bienville brought the first white settlers to 
this land he succeeded in a measure in persuading 
some of the lazy Frenchmen to grow grain. The 
first settlers who came to the "Bigbee Settlement," 
to the rich lands in the Tennessee Valley and to 
the country along the Alabama river built their rude 
cabins and then cleared farm lands where food for 
their families could be grown. 

When the first boat load of 120 negro slaves was 
brought to Mobile from Guinea and sold for $176 
each, farming received a new impetus in Alabama. 

In 1810 the first cotton gin in Alabama was built. 
Abram Mordecai, a Jewish trader, built this gin just 
below the junction of the Coosa and Tallapoosa 
rivers. He had some trouble with the Indians who 
burned the gin and it was never I'cbuilt. Six months 
later John and William Pierce erected another cot- 
ton gin at the Boat Yard on the Tensaw river. 

From the early days of small crops and crude 
methods farming gradually improved until eight 

300 



AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT 



801 



million acres of Alabama land has been put in culti- 
vation and on many plantations the latest improved 
methods of planting, cultivating and harvesting are 
used. 

The State Department of Agriculture was 
created in 1888 and it has been of great service in 
aiding the farmers along lines of production. In 
1911 a State Board of Agriculture was created. At 
the same time it was decided to appropriate $25,000, 




OUT.SIDE VIEW OF A MODERN COTTON GINNING PLANT 

received from the sale of Fertilizer Tags, to Farm 
Demonstration work. Each county has a Farm 
Demonstration Agent who supervises the cultiva- 
tion of a plot of ground according to government 
methods. He also visits and advises farmers con- 
cerning questions pertaining to the farms. Since 
1915 the Markets Bureau of the Agricultural De- 
partment has aided greatly in selling the crops. 

For seventy-five years cotton was the principal 
crop in the state. Since the appearance of the boll 



302 



HTSTOEY STOUT ES OF ALABAMA 



weevil, however, South Alabama has turned its at- 
tention largely to food crops but cotton still remains 
the money crop. In the northern part of the state 
the boll weevil has not done so much damage as in 
the southern (M)unties and more than half the cotton 
in the state is now grown in North Alabama. In 
1914 an era of "Diversified Farming" began. Men 
who know all about fertilizers, improved farm ma- 
chinery and the best methods of making the soil 




U IIKAI ilAK\ l>'r 



LIJ'ICAL OF NEW DIVEKSIFIED FARMS OF 
MONTGOMERY COUNTY 



pioduce the best-paying crops went all over Ahi- 
bama telling the farmers how to recover from tlie 
effects of the boll weevil and why they should plant 
less cotton and more food. The newspapers, schools, 
bankers, merchants and other business men talked 
about ''Diversification and Rotation of Crops." 

The figures below, given by F. W. Gist, of the 
United States Bureau of Crop Estimates, will give 
you some idea of the productiveness of the farm 



AGKICITLTUEAL DEVELOPMENT 303 

lands in the state. During the year 1918 the thirteen 
principal crops of Alabama represented money value 
as follows: 

Cotton, (820,000 bales) $114,400,000; Corn, (67,- 
460,000 bushels) $102,700,000; Cotton seed, (360,- 
000 tons) $25,150,000 ; Peanuts, (17,400,000 bushels) 
$21,000,000; Velvet beans, (400,000 tons) $8,200,000; 
Cowpeas, (3,150,000 bushels) $6,500,000; Hay, 
(1,200,000 tons) $29,400,000; Sorghum syrup, 
(9,500,000 gallons) $6,900,000; Sugar-cane syrup, 
(8,100,000 gallons) $7,800,000; Irish potatoes, 
(4,700,000 bushels) $10,200,000; Sweet potatoes (14,- 
700,000 bushels) $13,200,00; Oats (threshed) 
(8,100,000 bushels) $9,200,000; Wheat, (1,300,000 
bushels) $3,800,000; Total value, $358,600,000. 

On the first day of January 1919 there were in 
this state 459,000 horses and mules, valued at $67,- 
473,000, 494,000 milk cows, valued at $28,652,000, 
more than twenty million dollars worth of other 
cattle and nearly thirty-eight million dollars worth 
of hogs. 

THE WIREGRASS REGION 

Back in the eighteen-eighties the "Wiregrass 
Region" in Southeast Alabama was called the "Cow 
Country." It was a vast stretch of waste land that 
few would buy. On a large portion of this land 
a tough wiry sort of grass grew. Great herds of 
cattle grazed on the grass and small plants in the 
forest and the early settlei's gave scant attention to 
this section. 



304 



HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 



Long before railroads made their way into the 
counties of Dale, Geneva, Henry, Coffee, Houston, 
Covington and Crenshaw wagons came over the 
sandy roads bringing the pioneers. Troy is not 
in the Wiregrass Region but it was the trading 
center for the early settlers in Southeast Alabama, 
West Florida and parts of Georgia. Ti'oy was once 
a village called Zebulon. Later its name was 



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changed to Centreville and finally it was called 
''Troy." In 1839 the Court House was moved from 
Monticello and the town took on new growth. 

About twenty-five ^^ears later the Central of 
Georgia built a little l)ranch road from Columbus, 
Georgia into Troy. Tlien indeed did business begin 
to prosper. Long lines of wagons drove in and out 
of Troy bringing cotton and other farm products 



AGEICIJLTURAL DEVELOPMENT 305 

and carrying back merchandise for the homes and 
cross road stores. The old camping grounds below 
Troy, where teams were unhitched and travelers lay 
down for the night are familiar landmarks. People 
came for fifty miles, in all kinds of weather, to 
bring their crops to market and to buy what they 
needed for their families. 

In 1889 the Alabama Midland (now the Atlantic 
Coast Line) railroad ran its first train past Dothan 
into Georgia. There was no Dothan on the map at 
' tliat time however. A little post office called Poplar 
Head was all that the road builders found of the 
present county seat of Houston. Five men owned 
160 acres each around Poplar Head. After the 
railroad was liuilt those men grew rich. Land in- 
creased in value a thousand per cent. An unheard- 
of rush of moving in took place. One week a new 
street was laid off, the next week frame houses 
were going up on both sides of the street and a few 
weeks later children were feeding chickens in the 
back yard of the new homes. The name given to 
the town was taken from the Bible. It is said that 
a minister found inspiration in this verse, "For I 
heard them say, 'Let us go to Dothen.' " And so 
the magic city of the Wiregrass Region was called 
Dothan. 

The farms in the Wiregrass Region have made 
Dothan what it is today. There are no great fisher- 
ies, no mines, no developed water power or no giant 
waterways. The country was settled by men who 
came there with determination to make big crops 



306 



IILSTOKY ST()IJIP]S ()¥ ALABAa^A 



and cotton has been "King." During the past five 
years immense crops of corn, potatoes, sugar cane, 
peanuts and hay have been grown and the raising 
of livestock has become a leading and most profitable 
industry. One of the largest i)acking plants in the 
South is located at Andalusia, in Covington Count}^ 
while the hog sales at Ozark, in Dale County, have 
made Ozark famous. 




HARVESTING PEANUTS NEAR DOTIIAN, ALABAMA 

The abundance and value of the peanut crop in 
Alabama and particularly in Southeast Alal)ama 
during the years of the great war is nothing short 
of mai'velous. Ever since the year 1872 the little 
boj^s of South iVlabama have numbered among 
their possessions at least one paii' of "Killebrew 
breeches." During that year T. J. Killebrew came 
with liis father to Newton, in Dale Countv. Tliev 



AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT 



307 



erected a little frame building and began spinning 
wool into thread. Years later, a modern brick build- 
ing was erected down by the old mill pond near the 
depot. The pond has been the swimming hole, the 
fishing place, and picnic parties' chief attraction 
for generation after generation. 




alai;a.\ia i'i:.\Ni r-i'i:L) iiuos 



A big old-fashioned over-shot water wheel was 
used at first to run the mill and it was still used 
after steam was put in the factory when there was 
enough water flowing over the dam. 

During Alabama's early days, the hills and 
woods of Dale, Coffee, Geneva and Henry counties 
were literally covered with sheep. These sheep fur- 



308 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

nished about three pounds of wool apiece every year. 
In ^[ay and sometimes in August the wool is cut 
from the sheep's back. The farmers bring it in 
sacks and dump it in the warehouse at the factory. 
First it is cleaned and scoured, then the impurities 
are removed by boiling and rinsing the wool. It is 
then placed in dye pots. Next it is carded and then 
it is ready to start through the spinning and weav- 
ing machines. Cutting and sewing machines were 
put into the factory in later years so that the ma- 
terial could be made into garments there in Newton. 

FOUNDING OF GENEVA 

Henry Young built the first cabin in Geneva 
the same year that Alabama became a state. The 
first settler probably selected this site for his home 
because he could stand in his cabin door and see 
the Pea River, the Choctawhatchie, and Double 
Bridge Creek, and he knew that from any one of 
these streams fish could be caught any day. 

Across Pea River in a low place Henry Young 
built another small house which he used as a 
store. Here he sold salt and other necessities to 
the Indians and to settlers who followed him into 
Geneva County. Around that small store the town 
of Geneva grew up. But the "Lincoln Freshet" 
in 1865 washed the town away. The citizens gath- 
ered up their few remaining possessions and moved 
to a higher place where they started all over again. 

This part of the state is especially noted for the 
fine sugar cane and excellent syrup. The farmers 



AGEICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT 809 

in Geneva Connty were the first in the state to 
use modern methods in making syrup. From land 
that produces 360 gallons of syrup to the acre, the 
cane is gathered. Instead of having an old mule 
walk round and round pulling the mill that grinds 
the juice from the cane the progressive farmers 
throw the cane into a big machine where huge steam 
rollers press out the juice. The juice flows into a 
big vat. Copper pipes carry steam through the 
bottom of the vats and the juice comes to a boil. 
The refuse is skimmed off and the juice sent on to 
anothei' vat. The steam supplies the heat that boils 
the juice into a thin syrup. Again the skimming 
process takes place and the thin syrup passes into 
another big vat. In the last vat the syrup is cooked 
to exactly the right thickness. Then it is drawn off 
into cans or into barrels, piping hot, and sealed up 



air tight. 



THE "SINGLE TAX" COLONY 



A big land company bought up thousands of 
acres of land across the bay from Mobile and in- 
duced colonists to come there from the North. They 
neither sold the land nor rented it, but the land 
owners said to the colonists, ''Come and live on one 
of our farms and pay just so much every year. That 
amount will cover your rent, state and county taxes, 
schooling for your children and other expenses that 
any land owner would have. Your lease is good for 
ninety-nine years. If you die your children will 
have the first option on the land and their lease will 



310 HISTORY STOEIES OF ALABAMA 

be made for ninety-nine years more." Because of 
this one yearly tax covering everything in the nature 
of a tax, the settlement is called "the Single Tax 
Colony. ' ' 

THE GULF COAST COUNTRY 

If you look on your map, you will see that this 
settlement now known as Fairhope is only one of 
the many little coast towns that extend along Mobile 
Bay where people go every year to enjoy the fish- 
ing and bathing. Besides being a place of pleasure 
and plenty the coast country has a big trade in fish, 
lumber and farm products. Farmers ship great 
quantities of fruit and vegetables to nothern mar- 
kets from all the counties near the Gulf. 

In the latter part of the Nineteenth Century, 
when land went begging at fifty cents an acre in 
South Alabama, lumbermen went into the pine 
forests and bought miles and miles of land, for 
almost nothing. Turpentine men bought the tur- 
pentine rights and many of them made fortunes by 
gathering and selling the turpentine that dripped 
from the pine trees into boxes or buckets provided 
for that purpose. 

At various times land companies l)ought tracts 
of land near the Gulf and induced settlers to come 
there to live. Western men, Xorthern men, Swedes, 
Norwegians and Germans moA'^ed in and wrote back 
home that three crops a year could be grown in that 
climate. Among these who came to this land of 
flowei'S, sunshine, and gulf breezes was a man from 



AGRICULTIJKAL DEVELOPMENT 311 

AVisconsin. He was crippled with rheumatism and 
was glad to escape the cold winters of his own state. 
He bought a farm and built a home at Fruitdale. 
In the course of time he planted an acre in cannas, 
those big red or yellow flowers whose leaves resemble 
elephant ears. "I am going to have a flower farm," 
he told his astonished neighbors. The old time 
Southern farmers thought the man crazy and even 
the shrewd northern and western truck growers 
shook their heads over his "folly." But when the 
"Flower Farmer" sold one variety of canna to a 
Mississippi florist with the exclusive privilege of 
producing it for $1,000 the farmers opened their 
eyes. In two years ' time two acres had been planted 
in cannas and gladiolas and the Wisconsin man was 
making about $3,000 a year from the sale of his 
bulbs and flowers. 

The cutover pine lands afford excellent soil for 
strawberries. Castleberry, in Conecuh County, is 
especially famed for its strawberries. It is hard to 
imagine a thousand acres of strawberries, but much 
more than that amount of land is planted in these 
luscious red berries in Conecuh and adjoining coun- 
ties. Cullman, in Cullman County, and Thorsby, in 
Chilton County, further north, are also famous 
strawberry towns. Grapes also thrive in these 
places. In fact, a^ou can make a list of all the good 
things that ordinary people have to eat and 3"ou may 
be sure that the best of their kind can be grown in 
our own state. 

The citrus industry of South Alabama dates 



312 HTSTOT^Y STORIES OF ALABAMA 

back to the year 1897, when Mr. Legere, of Mobile 
County, planted the first Satsuma orchard. In 1898 
Mr. Samuel AVhite, of Boston, planted the first Sat- 
suma orchard in Baldwin County, Alabama, near 
Battles. From that time till 1909 small plantings 
were made in various parts of both Baldwin and 
Mobile counties. At this time, however, the planters 
had no idea of making the Satsuma a commercial 
proposition in this state. Not until the years 1909 
and 1910 did tlie plantings on a commercial scale 
begin. During the years 1911-12-13-14-15-16 the 
plantings increased heavily, so that at the end of 
the planting season of 1916 there were 12,500 acres 
of Satsumas planted in South Alabama representing 
an actual value of $500 per acre or a total value of 
$6,250,000. A conservative estimate of the crop for 
1919, providing the season is normal, should be 
one hundred carloads. 

EVERGREENS 

There is an unusual industry in the country 
around Evergreen and that is the gathering and 
shipi^ing of evergreens to decorators in the North. 
A train wreck near Evergreen in 1883 caused the 
beginning of this industry. A northern woman who 
was tra\'eling through the South was delayed there 
several hours by a train wreck. She strolled off 
into the woods nearby and amused herself by pick- 
ing violets and gathering ferns. In a magazine 
article which she wrote later she told of the beauti- 
ful evergreen country in Alabama. ''Violets bloom 



AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT 313 

in the dead of winter and green plants are to be 
found the year around," she wrote. 

One of her readers came to Alabama to see for 
himself. He began shipping smilax, mistletoe, cedar 
and other greens to florists in the North and in the 
course of a few years other men joined in the work 
of shipping evergreens. At first the farmers gave 
the stranger all of the smilax, mistletoe, etc., he 
cared to haul away, but when they realized what a 
profitable business it was they used their spare time 
to cut and pack the evergreens on the land for ship- 
ment. When the mules and wagons are not busy 
with the peach crop or the other big crops in this 
part of South Alabama they are hauling loads of 
evergreens to the station. The checks that come 
back are constant reminders of the wealth in the 
w^oods. 

All the year round there is something to be 
shipped away to market from the counties near the 
Gulf. Fruits, vegetables and all kinds of foodstuff 
are sent every month to the North, while on the 
boats and trains going south, lumber, naval stores, 
cotton and food crops are sent away to foreign 
countries. 

TENNESSEE VALLEY AND THE BLACK BELT 

The Tennessee Valley has been famous for its 
grain crops, corn in particular, for more than half 
a century. All standard crops, besides fruit and 
vegetables, are also grown in profusion in the rich 
lands of the Tennessee Valley. One of the largest 



814 



HISTOI.'V S'I'OIMES OF ALABAMA 



nurseries in the world is the Chase Nurscr}^ near 
Hnntsville. Fruit trees, grown in this nursery, are 
shipped to various states of the Union and to for- 
eign countries. 

''The Black Belt," which was the great cotton- 
growing section, until "Diversified Farming" was 
introduced, is very proud of its record as a hay 
country. Alfalfa, cow peas, velvet beans, Johnson 
grass and other forage crops are grown extensively. 




AN ALABAMA DAIRY HERD 



Pure bred livestock has become a matter of utmost 
importance to the farmers all over the state. The 
country around Demopolis has won national fame as 
a livestock and alfalfa region. In fact, every county 
in the state, even the mineral counties, afford excep- 
tional opportunities to any farmer who will take 
advantage of the soil, climate and conditions which 
Mother Nature has so lavishly bestowed upon Ala- 
bama. 



AGRICULTURAL EXTENSION SERVICE 

THE strongest force, in the teacliing of scientific 
agriculture to tlie men, women, boys, and girls 
of Alabama is the Agricultural Extension Service. 
Dr. J. F. Duggar, the director of this great work, 
had this to say, in a recent article, regarding his 
department : 

"The Extension Service is the joint representa- 
tive of the Alabama Polytechnic Institute and the 
U. S. Department of Agriculture in matters relating 
to the giving of instruction in agriculture and home 
economics in Alabama. It is an institution created 
in accordance with the Act of Congress, approved 
May, 1914, that makes provision for co-operation 
between the national department of agriculture and 
the state colleges of agriculture in giving instruction 
on these two subjects to persons who are not resi- 
dent in such colleges. Thus the work done is en- 
tirely separate from the college work, and entirely 
different from school work. The purpose is to carry 
the message of improved methods of farming and 
home keeping primaril}^ to the farmers while they 
are at their farms and to the farmers' families. In 
short, it provides for free practical home study 
coui'ses in agriculture and home economics without 
text-books, and chiefly by means of demonstrations 
in the field or in the home. 

315 



316 mSTOKY 8T0T?1ES OF ALABAMA 

"Unlike the work of the schools, Extension work 
is intended for people of all ages. It reaches the 
gray-headed farmer by demonstrations in his own 
field or barn given by the farm demonstration agent 
or specialist of the Extension Service; it reaches 
the housewife, young or old, by a visit from the 
home demonstration agent to the housewife's kitchen, 
pantry, or garden; and it also carries instructive 
and inspiring lessons to the pupils of the elementary 
and high schools, especially through the work done 
for enrolling the young people in corn clubs, pig 
clubs, poultry clubs, and other organizations for 
boys and girls. 

HOW SUPPORTED 

"The Extension Service is the organized out- 
growth of the first years of farm demonstration 
work. Under the Smith-Lev^r Act of Congress the 
farm demonstration work becomes a part of a much 
larger agency for helping farmers and homekeepei'S 
and young people,— namely, the Extension Service. 

"The Smith-Lever Act provides a Federal ap- 
propi'iation to take care of a little more than half 
the expense of conducting demonstration and other 
Extension work. This Federal support is available 
only on condition that the other half of the neces- 
sary suppoi't shall come from the state. The Fed- 
eral fund increases by a fixed amount anmuilly, but 
no state can receive this increase unless it also 
increases, dollar for dollar, its financial support of 
Extension work. 



AGEICULTUEAL EXTENSION SERVICE 317 

MAIN DIVISIONS OF EXTENSION WORK 

''Extension activities may be roughly divided 
into four groups, as follows: 
"1. Farm demonstration. 
"2. TI(jme demonstration. 
"3. Boys' club work. 
"4. Girls' club work. 

FARM DEMONSTRATION AGENTS 

"There is a farm demonstration agent in prac- 
tically every county. It is his business to help the 
farmer by every practicable method with a view to 
increasing the yields, the profits, the comforts, and 
satisfaction of farm life. The farm demonstration 
agent makes his visits to as many farmers as possi- 
ble, and in their own fields and barns makes prac- 
tical demonstrations and advises with them on such 
subjects as the selection of seed, suiting the fertil- 
izer to the soil and crop, methods of cultivation, and 
especially the use of labor-saving machinery. If 
there is a neglected orchard he begins the actual 
pruning and spraying, possibly leaving the farmer 
to finish it according to the practical instruction he 
has just received from the agent. Likewise, if a 
barn or silo, or other farm structure, is needed, the 
agent is available to help in planning it, and often 
to start the construction. 

HOME DEMONSTRATION AGENTS 

"In nearly every county there is employed for 
the whole or a part of the year a home demonstra- 



318 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

tion agent. These workers among the women are 
popularly known as 'canning club agents,' the name 
given them because one of their first and principal 
activities has been the organization of girls into 
canning clubs, and the demonstration of how the sur_ 
plus vegetables and fruits from the summer garden 
and orchard may be made to feed the family through- 
out the winter. Canning is, however, only one of their 
man}^ activities. The}^ also give instruction to can- 
ning club girls in sewing, cooking, care of poultry, 
and other matters intended to afford the farm girls 
an independent source of revenue, or to enable them 
to better provide for the feeding of the family." 

BOYS' CLUBS 

"By means of boys' clubs of various kinds the 
boys on the farms are encouraged to vie with each 
other and with their fathers in the endeavor to pro- 
duce the largest yield of corn, peanuts, or other 
crops, or to raise the finest or most profitable hogs 
or other livestock. The object is not alone to cause 
the farm boy to contribute his part in increasing the 
agricultural production of the state, but also to 
enlist his interest in better methods of crop produc- 
tion and in pure bred livestock, so that a larger pro- 
portion of boys may become farmers, and that most 
of these may become the best farmers of their re- 
spective communities. Tn 1918 the enrollment of 
white ])oys in lioys' clubs and in other forms of 
agricultural production was more than 22,000. 



AGRIcrU/rFRAL EXTENSION SEIU^ICE 319 

GIRLS' CLUBS 

Every summer since 1911 girls have been busy 
in some part of the state gathering tomatoes and 
canning tlieni. The tirst canning clubs were formed 
in Pike and Walker counties. Just 240 girls agreed 
to plant one-tenth of an acre in tomatoes, do all the 
work except the plowing and with the help of a 
teacher to can all the tomatoes that could be spared 
from the home table. 

Girls in ten counties were doing this splendid 
work in 1912. Every yes.T thereafter the work grew 
and in 1917 when the Government was urging peo- 
ple to grow food crops and to preserve all the food 
possible a large sum of money was appropriated for 
this Home Demonstration work. Girls and women 
in every county of the state by that time were grow- 
ing all sorts of vegetables and fruits and canning 
great quantities of good things to eat. In 1918 more 
than a million and a half dollars worth of food was 
canned by these girls and women on the farms. The 
Home Demonstration Agents helped them sell their 
products and numbers of girls have gone to school 
on the money they made themselves at home, 

Luther N. Duncan has been in charge of the 
boys' and girls' club Avork since it was first begun 
in 1910, when the fiist boys' corn clubs were organ- 
ized. The champion member of the Boys' Corn 
Club is Walker Lee Dunson of Alexander City. Two 
years after the club was started this fifteen-year-old 
boy planted one acre of corn according to govern- 
ment instructions, cultivated it according to direc- 



320 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

tions and produced 232J bushels of corn. And this 
is the world's record. 

QUESTIONS 

How was Birmingham founded? 

What minerals have brought wealth and fame to the Birmingham 
district? Name otlier minerals found in Alabama. 

What changes have taken place in farming during recent years? 

Tell something about the By-products ovens in the Birmingham 
district. 

Tell something about the shipbuilding at Mobile. 

Where is Lock 12? Lock 17? 

Of what value to industry are the dams that have been built in 
the rivers of the state? 

What big government plant was built on the Tennessee River 
during the War in Europe? 

Why do the business men of the state want the waterways 
improved ? 

Tell something of the work for good roads in the state. 




321 



PROGRESS IN EDUCATION 

STATE SCHOOLS 

rriHE first English school, with John Pierce as 
_l. teacher, established in Alabama, was opened at 
the Boat Yard, on the Tensaw River in the year 
1811, bnt Washington Academ}^, at St. Stephens, 
and Green Academy, at Huntsville, were the first 
schools of any importance in this state. The first 
attempt to establish public schools in Alabama was 
made in JNfobile in 1826. About twenty-five years 
afterwards, Barton Academy was completed and a 
good school system was in operation. In 1854 Alex- 
ander B. Meek of Mobile introduced a bill in the 
Legislature providing for public schools throughout 
the state. W. E. Perry was the first State Superin- 
tendent of Education. 

In order to have 'good schools it is necessary to 
provide good teachers. For that reason Noinial 
Schools were established at Jacksonville, Living- 
ston, Florence and Troy, where regular courses of 
study and special training for teachers are given. 
AVhat is known as the '^ Class B" Normal Schools 
were established at Daphne and Moundville. Schools 
for the training of negro teachers are located at 
Montgomery, one near Huntsville and one at Tuske- 
gee. An Agricultural School has been established 
in each of the Congressional Districts of Alabama. 

323 




r'M\i;i!SITV OF ALAHAMA 
(1) Smitli Hall. (2) Comer Hall. (.3) Morgan Hail 



324 



PEOGRESS IN EDUCATION 325 

The locations of these schools are at Jackson, Ever- 
green, Abbeville, Sylacauga, AVetiimpka, Albertville, 
Blountsville, Athens and Hamilton. 

There are three higher institutions of learning 
established and maintained by the state. These are 
the University of Alabama, the Alabama Polytech- 
nic Institute at Au])urn, and the Girls' Technical 
Institute at Montevallo. Of these tlie University of 
Alabama is the oldest. It was chartered in 1821 but 
it was ten years thereafter before the first session 
actually began. Dr. Alva Woods was the first presi- 
dent and he was succeeded by Dr. Basil Manly. The 
University buildings were l)urned by Federal troops 
in 1865, but immediately after the war steps were 
taken to rebuild them. Nearly twent}' years later 
the United States Congi'ess appropriated forty-six 
thousand and eighty acres of land as payment for 
the burning of the buildings by Federal soldiers. 
A large part of these lands has been sold and the 
proceeds used for new buildings and equipment. 
In addition, appropriations have been made from 
time to time by the state. Thousands of young men 
and young women have taken advantage of its splen- 
did courses in academic branches, law, engineering, 
teacher training, and in medicine. The Medical 
Department of the University is located at Mobile. 
In 1893 the doors of the University were opened to 
women. It was due largel,y to the influence and con- 
tinued efforts of Miss Julia Tutwiler that the Uni- 
versity and the Poh^technic Institute introduced co- 
education. She also established the Normal School 




326 



PROGEESS m EDUCATION 327 

for Girls at Livingston. A Summer School, chiefly 
for the benefit of teachers, was openetl at the Uni- 
versity in 1904 and since that time the other state 
schools have opened summer schools. In fact, the 
four "Class A" Normal Schools now operate twelve 
school months in the year. 

The Alabama Polytechnic Institute was estab- 
lished at Auburn in 1872 in the building which had 
been the home of the East Alabama Male College. 
The name of the new state institution was the Ala- 
bama Agricultural and Mechanical College. Dr. 
I. T. Tichenor was the president for ten years and 
was succeeded by Dr. William LeRoy Broun. Un- 
der his leadership the school grew greatly and new 
courses were introduced. Since the death of Dr. 
Broun, Dr. Charles C. Thach has been president of 
this Institute. The school has attained a national 
reputation and is considered one of America's lead- 
ing scientific schools. 

Following the establishment of an Agricultural 
Department at Auburn, an Agricultural Experi- 
ment Station was installed. Much of the progress 
in farming in the state is due to the teaching of 
scientific agriculture. New methods of planting, 
of fertilizing, of cultivating, of harvesting and of 
marketing have been gradually accepted by farmers. 
Movable schools for farmers, summer courses for 
farmers' housewives, for boys and girls are among 
the successful undertakings of the Agricultural Ex- 
tension Department. Corn clubs and pig clubs for 
boys, tomato clubs and poultry clubs for girls and 




:}28 



PEOGEESS IN EDUCATION 329 

instruction in Home Economics for women and girls 
have develo]3ed into big forces for prosperity and 
happiness in the rural districts of the state. 

The Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute 
for negroes is to the negro race what the Polytechnic 
Institute at Auburn is to the white race. Booker T. 
Washington came to Tuskegee long before the state 
had recovered from the effects of the war and began 
his school for negroes in a little old frame building. 
Before he died, his school had become known in 
all parts of the United States. Its founder was 
probably the most noted and most honor edd member 
of his race. He is l)U]'ied on the campus of the 
school that he established. 

In 1896 the Alabama Girls' Technical Institute 
was opened at Montevallo. Its purpose is to give 
the girls of the state the training necessary to make 
them self-supporting and to teach them the art of 
home-making. In addition to academic branches, 
the school gives courses in business, pedagogy, cook- 
ing, sewing, canning, nursing and various other 
branches pertaining to Domestic Science. 

The Legislature made an appropriation of $3,000 
in 1899 to buy land and erect buildings for the Boys' 
Industrial School at East Lake. Larger appropri- 
ations have been made since that time and the insti- 
tution, which is a reform school, has taken care of 
many boys who needed strict discipline and indus- 
trial training. An Industrial School for Girls in 
Birmingham secured a small appropriation from 
the Legislature in 1915. This institution has grown 




c -^ 



"CO 



;{;jo 




girls' technical institute, montevallo, alabaaia 

(1) Peterson Hall (Infirmary). (2) Block Hall. (.3) Conservatory of 
Music. (4) Dormitorv 



331 



382 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

in usefulness and popular favor. A reform school 
for negro boys is conducted near Mt. Meigs, in 
Montgomery County. The school for the Deaf and 
the Blind at Talladega was established before the 
War of Secession. It teaches the dumb to talk and 
educates the deaf and the blind so that they can be 
independent and often self-supporting. 

PRIVATE SCHOOLS 

In addition to the schools which are supported 
by the state, there are numbers of good private and 
denominational schools. Among the most important 
of which are the Alabama Presbyterian College at 
Anniston; Howard College at East Lake and Jud- 
son College at Marion, Baptist schools; the South- 
ern University of Greensboro and the Birmingham 
College combined to form the Birmingham- Southern 
University at Birmingham; Athens College for 
Young AVomen at Athens, and the Woman's College 
of Alabama at Montgomery, Methodist schools; 
Spring Hill College at Mobile and St. Bernard Col- 
lege near Cullman, Catholic schools. 

Large appropriations were made by the Legis- 
lature in 1907 for general educational purposes. All 
state institutions of learning received good appro- 
priations for their work. The building and repair 
of school houses was encouraged by an appropria- 
tion of $1,000 per year to each county. The money 
could be used only by communities that contributed 
a like amount for building or repairs of their own 
school houses. An appropriation of $3,000 a year 



PEOGRESS IN EDUCATION 



333 



was made to each county for the maintenance of 
a County High School. The county had to furnish 
the school property and to' comply with certain state 
regulations in order to secure this money. As a 
result of this act there are now 57 County High 
Schools in the state besides several city High Schools 
which are supported by city governments. 

The first uniform system of text-books for the 
state schools was introduced in 1908, and the first 




DORMITORY FOR AVOMKN, STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, 
]>IVINGSTON, ALABAMA 

meeting of the Text-Book Commission was held in 
Montgomery in that year. 

The Legislature has provided for the holding of 
teachers' institutes in every county each year. State 
aid for Rural School Tjibraries is provided by the 
state so that every community may receive the bene- 
fit of a Circulating Library, which is sent out from 
the State History Department. A Normal School 




STATK \oi;:\i\L scnonr.. floiiexci:, ai.ap.amv 

1) A.liiiiiiislnition IJiiil.liiifi:. ( L' ) Woiiiairs \hnm\tovy. ( .T) Striplin 
Hall, and Floroiico Ilall foi- Woiiumi 



834 




335 



336 HISTORY STORIES OF ALABAMA 

Board has been created and other measures looking 
to the improvement of the teaching force have been 
passed by the Legislature from time to time. 

A ComiDulsory Education Law was passed in 
1915 which coiripelled all children between the ages 
of 8 and 15 (now 8 to 16) to attend school eighty 
days during each school year. This same Legisla- 
ture also passed laws for the general welfare of the 
children in the state. Factory inspectors, working 
under the direction of the State Health Department, 
were provided. The duty of these inspectors is to 
prevent the employment of children under legal 
age in factories, stores and other places of business 
and to demand good working conditions for those 
who are emplyed in such places. 

An Illiteracy Commission was created and con- 
tinuous efforts have been made to teach every per- 
son in the state over ten years of age to read and 
write. Since 1919 this work has become a part of 
the State Educational Department work. Adult 
schools have met with astoTiishing success, the most 
far-reaching result ])cing the interest created in 
the education of the young. The pride and hap- 
piness with which the middle-aged and elderly peo- 
ple of the isolated places have received this instruc- 
tion has made worth while the sacrifice on the pai't 
of the volunteer teachei'S of the state. Industrial 
training has been introdu(H^d into the schools re- 
cently. The United States government has joined 
forces with the stat(» in teaching trades to disabled 
soldiers as well as to boys and girls. The creating 



PROGRESS IN EDUCATION 



337 



of County School Boards, who have supervision 
over the various county schools and appoint the 
County Superintendent, and the passage of a three- 
mill tax law, were conspicuous bills in the 1915 
Legislature. 

In a recent report issued by the State Depart- 
ment of Education the following statements were 
made regarding the progress of education in this 
state. 

Alabama is unique in that it gives a larger per- 




STATE NORMAL SCHOOL, TROY, ALABAMA 

centage of its taxes to its schools than any other 
state in the Union. Of a total of 6h mills authorized 
by the Constitution for the state, 3 mills go directly 
to the schools, together with a fiat appropriation of 
$350,000. Besides there are the several appropri- 
ations which go to institutions of higher learning 
and the many others which go for the support of 
special projects. The state school revenue is further 
increased by the poll tax and some modest funds 
accruing from school lands, escheats, and the like. 



338 HlISTOPiY 8T0R1ES OF ALABAMA 

In addition to tlie state funds every county, ac- 
cording to the Constitution of 1901, is authorized to 
levy a one mill tax for school purposes and approxi- 
mately 36 counties are exercising the privilege at 
this time. In 1915, as a result of a continuous 
propaganda for more money and the right to levy 
it locally, a constitutional amendment was submitted 
and ratified, authorizing every county by popular 
vote to levy a tax of three mills for school purposes, 
with a further proviso that a school district in any 
county should be permitted to vote an additional tax 
of three mills for the schools in the district. 

The attitude of the people of the state toward 
education is nowhere more directly reflected than in 
the readiness with which the counties have responded 
to this opport-unity. Already 66 counties are levy- 
ing the tax. 

It should be stated in conclusion that Alabama 
has not reached, but is traveling towai'd a system 
of free, universal education for all her boys and 
girls, an education that will make it possible to pre- 
pare not only for citizenship and for culture, but for 
the practical touch and training in the very work 
which the individual is to do when he leaves the 
school. 

The people of Alabama are awake as never l)e- 
fore to the meaning of education and to the value 
of the school. With a little im])rovement of ma- 
chinery and a larger investment of money, which 
are both sure to come rapidly, the educational as 
well as the economic, physical and moral destiny of 
the state is assured. 



PEOGRESS IN EDUCATION 339 

QUESTIONS 

Where was the first English school established in Alabama ? 

Who introduced the public school system in this state? 

How long ago was that? 

Whore are the four "Class A" Normal Schools in the state? 

Where is the State University? 

Tell something of its history. 

Where is the Alabama Polytechnic Institute? 

Why was the Alabama Girls' Technical Institute established? 

Where ? 

What woman did so much for the education of the girls in the 
state? 

Who was Booker T. Washington? 

What school was located at Talladega a short while before the 
War of Secession ? 

Tell some means that have been introduced of late years to 
educate or train all classes of people in the state. 



Appendix 

GOVERNORS AND OTHER OFFICERS 

GOVERNORS OF MISSISSIPPI TERRITORY 

Winthrop Sargent, of Massachusetts 1798 

William Charles Cole Claiborne, of Tennessee 1801 

Robert Williams, of North Carolina 1805 

David Holmes, of Virginia 1809 

GOVERNOR OF ALABAMA TERRITORY 
William Wyatt Bibb, of Georgia Sept. 2 5, 1817 

GOVERNORS OF THE STATE OF ALABAMA 

William Wyatt Bibb, of Augusta Nov. 9, 1819 

Thomas Bibb, of Limestone July 15, 1820 

Israel Pickens, of Greene Nov. 9, 1821 

John Murphv, of Monroe Nov. 25, 1825 

Gabriel Moore, of Madison Nov. 25, 1829 

Samuel B. Moore, of Jackson Mar. 3, 1831 

John Gayle, of Greene Nov. 26, 1831 

Clement Comer Clay, of Madison Nov. 21, 1835 

Hugh McVay. of Lauderdale July — , 1837 

Arthur Pendleton Bagby, of Monroe Nov. 21, 1837 

Benjamin Fitzpatrick, of Augusta Nov. 22, 1841 

Joshua Lanier Martin, of Tuscaloosa Dec. 10, 1845 

Reuben Chapman, of Madison Dec. 16, 1847 

Henry Watkins Collier, of Tuscaloosa Dec. 17, 1849 

John Anthony Winston, of Sumter Dec. 20, 1853 

Andrew Bacry Moore, of Perry Dec. 1, 1857 

John Gill Shorter, of Barbour Dec. 2, 1861 

Thomas Hill Watts, of Montgomery Dec. 1, 1863 

Lewis E. Parsons, of Talladega June 21, 1865 

Robert Miller Patton, of Lauderdale Dec. 20, 1865 

William H. Smith, of Randolph July 14, 1868 

Robert Burns Lindsay, of Colbert Nov. 26, 1870 

David P. Lewis, of Madison Nov. — , 1872 

George Smith Houston, of Limestone Nov. 24, 1874 

Rufus W. Cobb, of Shelby Nov. 28. 1878 

Edward Asburv O'Neal, of Lauderdale Dec. 1, 1882 

Thomas Seay, of Hale Dec. 1, 1886 

Thomas Goode Jones, of Montgomery Dec. 1, 1890 

William C. Gates, of Henry Dec. 1, 1894 

Joseph F. Johnson, of Jefferson Dec. 1, 1896 

William J. Samford. of Lee Dec. 26, 1900 

William D. Jelks, of Barbour June 11, 1901 

Braxton Bragg Comer Jan. 14, 1907 

Emmet O'Neal Jan. — , 1911 

Charles Henderson Jan. — , 1915 

Thomas E. Kilby Jan. 18, 1919 

340 



APPENDIX 



341 



UNITED STATES SENATORS 



William R. King 1819-1844 

and 1848-1853 

John W. Walker 1819-1822 ' 

William Kelly 1823-1825 

Henry Chambers 1825-1826 

Israel Pickens, Apr. 10- 

Dec. 21 1826 

John McKinley 1826-1831 



Gabriel Moore 1831-1837 

Clement C. Clay 1837-1841 

Arthur P. Bagby 1841-1848 

Dixon Hall Lewis 1844-1848 

Benjamin Fitzpatrick 1848-1849 

Jeremiah Clemens 1849-1853 

Clement C. Clay 1853-1861 

Benjamin Fitzpatrick. . . .1853-1861 



CONFEDERATE STATES SENATORS 



William L. Yancey 1861-1863 

Robert Jemison 1863-1865 



Clement C. Clay 1862-lf 

Richard W. Walker 1864-lJ 



UNITED STATES SENATORS 



George S. Houston 1865» 

Lewis E. Parsons 1865* 

John A. Winston 1867* 

Willard Warner 1868-1871 

George E. Spencer 1868-1879 

George Goldthwaite 1872-1877 

John T. Morgan 1877-1907 

George S. Houston 1879-1883 



•Elected but not seated. 



James L. Pugh 1883-1897 

Edmund W. Pettus 1897-1907 

John Hollis Bankhead. . . 1907 

Joseph Forney Johnston. . 1907 

Frank S. White 1914 

Oscar W. Underwood. . . . 1915 



JUDGES OF THE SUPREME COURT 



Chief Justices 



Clement C. Clay 1 

Abner S. Lipscomb 1 

Reuben Saffold 1 

Henry Hitchcock 1 

Arthur F. Hopkins 1 

Henry W. Collier 1 

Edward Spann Dargan 1 

William P. Chilton 1 

George Goldthwaite 1 

Samuel F. Rice 1 

Abram J. Walker 1 



820 Elisha W. Peck 1868 

82 3 Thomas M. Peters 1873 

835 Robert C. Brickell 1874 

836 George W. Stone 1884 

836 Robert C. Brickell 1894 

837 Thomas N. McClellan 1898 

849 Samuel D. Weakley 1905 

852 John R. Tyson 1907 

856 James R. Dowdell 1908 

856 John C. Anderson 1914 

8-59 



SUPERINTENDENTS OF EDUCATION 



William F. Perry 1854 

Gabriel B. DuVal 1858 

W. C. Allen 1864 

John B. Taylor 1865 

John B. Ryan 1866 

N. B. Cloud 1868 

Joseph Hodgson 1870 

Jo.seph H. Speed 1872 

John M. McKleroy 1874 

LeRoy F. Box 1876 

Henry C. Armstrong 1880 



Solomon Palmer 1884 

John G. Harris 1890 

John O. Turner 1894 

John W. Abercrombie 1898 

Harry C. Gunnels 1902 

Isaac W. Hill 1903 

Harry C. Gunnels 1907 

Henry J. Willingham 1911 

William F. Feagin 1914 

Spright Dowell 1917 



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